Boiling Point
by twentythirteen
Summary: The world of Pokemon is on the edge of war, and two very different trainers find themselves caught in the middle of everything. As militaries, militias, trainer factions, and even legendary pokemon enter into the conflict, the world is thrown into disarray. [Re-uploaded, Discontinued]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Hello, and thanks for reading. Some of you may recognize this story as I had uploaded it before and then taken it down due to my decision to discontinue it, but as you can see, I have re-uploaded it. The story is still discontinued and will not be finished, but I have added a few more chapters that were never publicly released. It seemed pointless to write those chapters and then not release them, so here they are. Even though I have discontinued this story, I still think it is a decent read, though I will admit that it has many flaws and just stupid moments in general. On top of that, I have neither edited nor proofread these chapters, so there may be spelling and/or grammatical errors. Either way, thanks again for reading._

* * *

Glass shattered and a woman screamed. The National Hoenn Weather Research Facility was in complete chaos, and scientists and assistants all ran for cover as the windows continued to be smashed and the men in carbon black armor poured into the building. They shot those who tried to fight back, and a large arcanine bounded through the spacious laboratory, pouncing on and tearing chunks of flesh out of those unlucky enough to cross paths with it.

Scarlet struggled to reach her desk, pushing through the panicked people and picking her way through the papers that the workers had thrown into the air in their rush to escape. Though she was dressed in a white lab coat and her black hair was in a tight bun, she was no researcher. She had been sent to the institution by the government to facilitate the transfer of the Blue and Red Orbs, and she had left some important papers in her desk which detailed the location of the Orbs. She knew the men were here for the Orbs, and she also knew that the artifacts contained an immense power and that they could not fall into the wrong hands. She heard a loud roar which shook the ground, but she kept scrambling towards her desk in spite of the screams and bangs erupting all around her. Suddenly she felt a sharp stab of pain in her leg and collapsed to the ground in agony.

As she turned around to see what had struck her, she saw a man in black body armor standing above her, his pistol still smoking. He was of slightly above average height and of a muscular build, and his dark eyes bore into her own blue ones. He had deep tan skin and long, messy black hair, and Scarlet recognized him as Alfgar the Wild. He held up his gun and pointed it at her.

"You look like you're in a hurry. Looking for something important?"

Scarlet cringed. He knew. She hesitated before opening her mouth, but shut it after she saw the glint in his eye. He noticed her hesitation, and now there was truly no hiding it.

"Give me the Orbs," he said, fingering the gun's trigger.

Scarlet heard a loud crash and glanced behind Alfgar to see a robust charizard smash through the skylight windows and land with a crash, eliciting a chorus of frightened screams as the researchers closest to it began to run. She watched with horror as the charizard set one of the researchers aflame and then ripped his arm off with its long, muscular neck and sharp, draconian jaws.

"Tell me where the Orbs are," Alfgar the Wild said, drawing her attention back to him. "I won't ask again."

"I won't tell you anything," Scarlet squeaked, though her resolve had been weakened when she saw the charizard burn a man alive. As the effects of adrenaline began to wear off, Scarlet became even more aware of the intense pain radiating from the bullet in her leg. She heard a woman scream and a man laugh, and then heard the charizard shriek as it let loose another jet of flames.

Alfgar sighed. "It doesn't have to be difficult. Just tell me where the Orbs are and I might even let you go free."

Scarlet remained silent, but let out a scream when Alfgar shot her in the leg again.

"You might have to amputate the leg if you don't answer quickly enough. Now talk."

Scarlet grunted, desperately trying to keep herself from moaning in agony. "They're not here," she blurted out.

"Oh? Then where are they? You must know where they are. You probably even have the exact location. I know there was a reason you were running deeper into the lab when everyone else was trying to get out."

Scarlet bit her lip. _I've failed_ , she thought, _I'm sorry_.

"The papers are in the top right drawer on my desk. It's the one in the very back, the blue one," she said, half delirious from the pain. Alfgar walked past her, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Alfgar strode towards the desk, pistol in hand. He saw numerous researchers rush past him, but he didn't bother with any of them. He glimpsed the blue desk in the back of the lab and smirked. He noticed one of his men bending a woman over a lab table, and he saw another looting a corpse of a scientist. He headed towards the desk and opened the top right drawer, but instead of finding papers he was greeted by an ekans coiled up inside. The purple snake lunged at him and he belatedly tried to lift his gun. A pink tongue lashed out at the snake, smacking the ekans onto the back wall and knocking it out. He turned around and saw Randy, his kecleon, darting towards him.

"Thanks." The kecleon let out a squawk in reply.

Alfgar peered into the drawer again and saw a single sheet of paper, and on it was a log detailing an exchange between the woman, who was apparently called Scarlet, and someone called Captain Stafford. He figured the woman wasn't lying about the Orbs not being here, and that Captain Stafford had covertly taken them aboard his ship. He would have to punish her for the ekans, though.

He headed back towards where he left the woman and saw her still on the ground, blood seeping out of her leg. As he walked towards her, she lifted her blue eyes to him.

"You made it back," she said blankly.

"You think you could kill me with an ekans?" He said, ignoring the fact that she had almost done just that.

"It was worth a try," she panted.

Alfgar the Wild sighed again. "Apollo! Here!"

The charizard shrieked in the background, then roared as it took flight in the confined laboratory and clumsily made its way over to Alfgar. As it landed, it roared again and Scarlet could feel the heat emanating from the creature's maw.

Alfgar gave Scarlet one last look with his dark eyes and then said: "Burn her." He watched as Apollo let loose a stream of fire upon the woman, and he winced as he heard her screams and watched as the fire crackled her skin. As the woman continued to wail, Apollo bit into her and began feasting. Alfgar walked away with a touch of respect and a pinch of disgust at the charizard's behavior and surveyed the rest of the lab. His men were destroying the lab, smashing test tubes and flinging papers as they killed, raped, and looted.

"Men! Brothers!" He yelled, but none seemed to hear him. Apollo suddenly looked up from his prey and roared deafeningly, drawing the men's attention and causing them to stop whatever they were doing. As silence more or less settled over the blood-soaked lab, Randy let out a squawk.

"I've found the Orbs," Alfgar said, which elicited a chorus of claps and cheers.

"Let's see 'em!" Someone shouted.

"Well, I don't exactly _have_ them, but I know where they are." This time no one cheered or clapped, so he continued on. "They're on a ship captained by someone named Stafford. Our next priority will be finding him. I think we're done here, so we should be heading out before the authorities arrive."

With that, Alfgar the Wild and his men and their pokemon left the institution, all of them letting out a flying type and climbing atop it. Alfgar himself returned Randy to his ball and leaped atop his charizard, and with a shriek, they were off.


	2. Chapter 2

_"... Reports say that the perpetrators behind the attack are a group of rogue Unovan soldiers known as the Brotherhood of the Black. There were no survivors, and the institution has been almost completely ransacked. As of now, authorities cannot find a clear motive behind the attack."_

Edwin looked away from the television with disgust and angrily chewed his food. He was sitting in the Petalburg pokemon center and had just returned after losing to the gym leader, Norman. The news report only made his mood even fouler.

Edwin was a young man of seventeen years with chestnut brown hair and deep ocean-blue eyes. He was of average height and of athletic build and wore an orange jacket on top of a plain black t-shirt. He also wore a pair of dark blue jeans, their fabric worn out from constant exposure to the elements. Next to Edwin was a large blue creature with black and orange fins called a marshtomp. The pokemon had a cast on its left arm and was covered in bruises.

Edwin had been a trainer for close to a year and had already received five badges. Norman was the sixth leader he faced but the first one he had lost to. All five of his pokemon had gotten beat up during the fight, but his marshtomp, Poseidon, was the strongest of the bunch and the only one who did not need to stay in intensive care overnight. A woman came over to Edwin's table and he looked up from his food as his traveling companion returned.

Faustina was a tall, beautiful woman with enticing curves and long, wavy black hair which could easily be mistaken for a blue color if the light hit it just right. She wore a loose gray long-sleeved shirt and form-fitting black traveling pants, and her mesmerizing violet eyes flitted to the television as she sat down beside Edwin.

"More killings by that Unovan group. Hopefully the bastards get caught this time," Edwin said to her, but she didn't seem to be paying any attention to him. Her focus remained entirely on the news report.

"Sorry, did you say something?" She asked, finally turning her head to look at him.

Edwin shook his head. "It was nothing. Never mind."

"Oh! That's right, your gym battle. How was it?"

"Take a look at Poseidon," Edwin said with a sigh, and the marshtomp croaked sadly. "It wasn't pretty."

"That's unfortunate. Norman can be challenging, I've heard." Her deep purple eyes were framed by her luscious black locks, and Edwin found it hard to look away. He thought she was extremely beautiful, but she was five years older than he was and she did not seem at all interested in him.

They had first met in the Petalburg Woods when Edwin was only just starting his journey, and she had saved him from a wild sceptile which had attacked him out of hunger. Ever since then, they had been traveling together, but both had different goals. Edwin wanted to collect eight badges and then challenge the Hoenn League while Faustina was looking for someone, and judging by the way she talked about him, it was someone she cared deeply for. Even though Faustina was distracted at times and treated him as a child, he was still glad to have her as a traveling companion. She was an experienced trainer, and there were many times where she saved him from certain death. Edwin was clueless about why she decided to travel with him when she already seemed so capable, but when he asked her she only said that there is safety in numbers and that she needed someone who knew the region well. That part Edwin could handle, as he was born and raised in Hoenn. He was the son of an executive at the Devon Corporation, and his father traveled a lot and took Edwin with him wherever he went.

"When do you plan on trying again?" Faustina asked, her violet eyes glinting in the light. "We should get to Fortree as soon as possible. You only have Winona and Wallace left."

"Trust me, I want to try for this badge again as soon as possible, but when I tried to schedule a rematch Norman's secretary said he'd be away for a couple weeks. Something about a conference he has to attend."

"A conference? For what?"

"Something to do with the war, probably. Everyone's talking about it," Edwin replied.

Faustina bit her lip. "There is no war. There's only rumors, and rumors are always false."

Edwin raised his eyebrow in confusion. "I think these are more than rumors," he said apprehensively. "A gym leader wouldn't just leave his city based on rumors alone." Faustina was an intelligent woman, but she always seemed uncomfortable whenever someone brought up the topic of an impending war, which was often these days.

Faustina's violet eyes filled with worry, and Edwin wanted to go over to her and comfort her, though he knew that would be out of line.

"We should go to Fortree now," she said suddenly. "We can come back and get Norman's badge later, but there's no point in waiting around for him if he won't be back for weeks."

"But we're already here," Edwin protested. "I could get some training in while he's gone, and maybe Poseidon will even evolve, he's close, I can feel it. Then we'll win for sure."

Poseidon liked the idea and croaked his agreement, but Faustina did not.

"I think we should go to Fortree. If you're not coming, then I guess I'll go myself."

Edwin sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll go to Fortree. I don't see what all the rush is about, though."

Faustina smiled. "Good. I'll get us tickets for a boat and we'll leave as soon as the rest of your pokemon are healed." With that, the dark-haired woman got up and left the center.

Edwin looked at his marshtomp, who croaked at him. "Guess we're going to Fortree," Edwin said to the pokemon.

The next day Edwin awoke and found all his pokemon ready to go. The nurse told him that most of them were fine, but also that he should refrain from having his marshtomp battle for a while and that his mightyena suffered a few broken ribs and should not battle for a few weeks if possible. As Edwin thanked the nurse and took his pokemon back, he headed over to the cafeteria and wondered where Faustina was. He sent her a text asking her where she was and that they could leave today if she wanted, but after he finished his breakfast and checked his phone, he still did not receive a response.

He talked to his pokemon about how they were skipping Norman and heading to Fortree and then he waited around in his room for a few hours and watched television since his pokemon were unable to train. He still had not received a response, and he began to get worried. He went over to Faustina's room which was adjacent to his and knocked on her door, wondering if she was sick. When he knocked, however, the door swung open to reveal the room devoid of Faustina or any of her possessions. He stared blankly for a moment and then figured that she had probably left without him.

 _Shit_ , he thought, _maybe I made her angry when I disagreed with her yesterday_. Even though Faustina was not the type to anger easily, Edwin remembered how anxious she was to get to Fortree. She may have decided that he was a burden and that she could move quicker without him, but Edwin found this to be rather unlikely as well. He decided that it was pointless to just stand around in her empty room, so he went to the docks and bought himself a ticket to Jungle Harbor, a small harbor on Route 119 which led to Fortree City. He would depart tonight on a small but cheap boat, and he sent Faustina another text to let her know what he was doing.

As he went back to his room and packed his belongings, Edwin wondered why Faustina had been so intent on reaching Fortree so quickly. He stepped outside of the center and felt the warm Petalburg breeze wash over him, the scent of the salt and the sea strong in the air. He hoped he had not gotten himself into something he could not handle.

* * *

 _Dex entry #006: charizard_

 _"Burnt corpses everywhere... The whole town was on fire... Not a soul was spared; women, children, all of them, burnt to a crisp... It was as if we had stepped into Hell itself." - Second Lieutenant Ishigo Wannake, veteran of the Second Kanto-Johto War._

 _Charizard are large, draconian pokemon feared far and wide for their dangerous flames. Charizard are only found in the mountains of Kanto, and they are extremely rare even there. Known for their aggressive temperament, charizard were once used during wars as alternatives to fire-bombing planes. However, the military found that once the charizards got a taste of destruction, they became overcome with bloodlust and proved impossible to control. Nowadays charmander are handed out to the best and brightest trainers in Kanto with the hopes that these trainers will be able to harness their power as well as calm their fiery spirits. Unfortunately, far too many of these trainers underestimate the violent and aggressive nature of these pokemon and end up as burnt husks. Charizard are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	3. Chapter 3

"Everyone quiet!" Alfgar the Wild shouted, though no one seemed to hear. The Brothers of the Black continued to talk, and Alfgar shouted again but still could not be heard over the din. Suddenly Randy let out a screech which caused everyone to turn and look at Alfgar.

"Thank you, Randy," he said to the kecleon, who squawked in reply. "Now as you know, we are currently in possession of some valuable information regarding the Orbs. Someone named Captain Stafford has the Orbs aboard his ship."

The men began talking among themselves again. They were in their secret base, a large hollowed out area at the base of a cliff which was hidden by the dense foliage of the jungle on Route 119. The base was spacious and dark, lit only by a few battery-powered lamps. The furniture was sparse: a few couches, a bookshelf, and a bed for each man.

The Brotherhood of the Black had originally been a special forces group of twenty good men from Unova sent to Hoenn to retrieve the Red and Blue Orbs, but their mission had ended in disaster. Operation Iridescent was led by an old, grizzled veteran called Lock and a young, easily-excitable man named Lonny Jones. Upon entry into Hoenn, their two helicopters were both shot down and Lonny Jones and one other man were killed. A few others were also injured, but the survivors fled deep into the jungle of Route 119 and managed to evade the Hoenn authorities. The men set up a rudimentary shelter in the side of a cliff with the help of their pokemon, and this shelter eventually became the secret base. After a day of licking their wounds and hoping that they would not be found, the men had The Vision.

The Vision was a dream that all eighteen of the men shared the first night of their survival. In the dream, the group of men were standing in a plain white landscape when a deep, resonant voice spoke to them. The voice identified itself as Arceus, the pokemon that many believed to be a god. For reasons that the men did not understand, Arceus addressed Alfgar directly and told him that he must lead the legendaries in the upcoming war in order to prevent the complete destruction of the world. He told Alfgar the Wild to get as many legendaries on his side as he could so that he could be prepared for the fight. After this, the voice disappeared and all of the men awoke simultaneously and were shocked to find that each had the exact same dream. From then on, even though he was not the highest-ranking soldier in the group, Alfgar the Wild became the leader of the Brotherhood of the Black.

"With the capture of these Orbs, we will have finally completed what we were originally sent out to do," Alfgar continued, "though we're working for ourselves and the good of the world now, not the government." Cheers erupted after he said this.

"What's the next step? Do we go after this guy's ship?" Called out Johnny, the second-in-command and Alfgar's most trusted soldier. Johnny was a big bearded man born and raised in Australia, though he had moved to Unova when he was twelve and became a citizen through naturalization. His arcanine lazed on the ground beside him and yawned, showcasing its fearsome and powerful teeth.

"No," replied Alfgar. "I looked up Captain Stafford and he apparently captains a ship called _Sunken Maiden_. Problem is, _Sunken Maiden_ is a cruise ship and is currently touring the Southern Isles, so there is no way Captain Stafford and the Orbs are on his ship. Captain Stafford operates out of Slateport Harbor, specifically Stern's Shipyard, so I went onto their website to see if he was known to captain any other ships. However, when I did this, I noticed something strange."

He paused for dramatic effect, but after someone yelled "Get on with it!" He frowned and continued.

"Apparently the Slateport docks are closed tomorrow. As far as I know, there's no holidays or anything tomorrow, so there can only be one reason why Hoenn's largest harbor would randomly close. The Orbs and Captain Stafford are leaving tomorrow."

The men began murmuring again, and Lock raised his gruff voice and said, "So we're attacking Slateport next? Easier said than done, considering the fact that we've never done something of this scale before."

"No, _we_ are not doing anything," Alfgar said. "Johnny and I will go. We will be dressed as ordinary trainers and we will sneak into the docks and steal the Orbs with as little fanfare as possible. Stealth will be the key here."

"Don't you think they'll be a shit ton of security, mate?" Asked Johnny. "They are transporting two of Hoenn's most important artifacts, after all."

"Don't think so. Have you seen the news reports covering our attack on the weather station? They said we had no clear motive, even though there is only one reason why anyone would ever attack the place. The Hoennese government clearly does not want anyone knowing about these Orbs. Yes, there will probably be some security, but nothing the two of us can't handle."

Johnny shrugged. "If you say so. I'm ready when you are, then." His arcanine lifted its head off the ground and growled.

"We'll leave as soon as we can so we get there on time. Lock, you're in charge until we get back."

The old soldier nodded, and Alfgar and Johnny began their preparations.

* * *

The sky was gray and smothered by stratus clouds and the scent of the sea pervaded the air of Slateport City. Liviana moved her golden hair away from her green eyes, but the constant wind kept pushing it back onto her face.

"I thought Slateport City was supposed to be beautiful and warm," complained Aurelia, a woman with fiery red hair and eyes the color of sapphires. "Both days we've been here it's been cold and gray."

Liviana and Aurelia were agents sent by the Unovan government. Their mission was to learn as much as possible about Hoenn's military preparations and, more importantly, to do what the infamous Operation Iridescent had failed to do: collect the Orbs and as many other Hoenn legendaries as possible. Tensions were higher than ever now, and any little thing could cause war to break out between Unova, Hoenn, and their allies. Whoever controlled the most legendaries would control the tide of the war.

Liviana was an exceptionally beautiful woman born in the sun-kissed town of Undella, and she had flowing blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She had tan skin and a relatively muscular body, hardened through years of training. She wore a tight black long sleeve under a military-grade black vest and tight black pants with military-style boots. On her belt hung six gleaming pokeballs.

Aurelia had flaming red hair and blue eyes, and numerous freckles dotted her face. She was muscular like her partner and just as alluring, and she wore clothing almost identical to that of Liviana's, though the carbon black shirt struggled to contain her large bust. She was equipped with six pokeballs as well, along with a few other weapons which were hidden from sight.

"Now where does this 'Dragonslayer' live again?" Liviana asked, squinting her eyes in the face of the sea salt-filled wind.

"Past the markets, I think," replied Aurelia, lifting a hand to block the gust which was only getting stronger. The wind pushed her hair back, long streams of fire flying in the breeze.

"That doesn't do us any good. What are we going to do, go from house to house until we find him?"

"We could probably - "

"What? What is it?" Liviana turned her head to follow her partner's gaze and saw two men, a large hairy man and a tan, dark-haired one. It was the latter who caught her attention.

"What do we do?" Aurelia asked. "You saw the news report. He might have the Orbs with him."

"Forget the Dragonslayer, he can wait. We're going after Alfgar, but we keep our distance for now, follow him for a while. Then we strike."

* * *

Alfgar the Wild and Johnny stood in front of a large building marked "Stern's Shipyard." Both of them wore standard trainer clothes: t-shirt, jacket, black combat pants, and backpacks.

"This is the place. They won't do it out in the open," Alfgar said as he stepped into the building.

The shipyard was large and full of crates and cargo. In the middle of the yard was a huge pool of water which contained numerous ships, most of them of a small size. The pool of water connected to the sea outside the shipyard. As Alfgar suspected, the place was mostly empty save for two sailors who stood in front of a small ship. Alfgar guessed that this was the ship that contained Captain Stafford and the Orbs. Johnny let out his arcanine and the beast growled as it emerged from the ball. One of the sailors turned around.

"Hey you can't - " the sailor's protest was cut off as the arcanine leapt and tore his throat out. The other sailor pulled out a pokeball but received a slash to the face before he could release the pokemon inside. Alfgar and Johnny walked up the steps connecting the dock to the ship and Alfgar released Randy, his kecleon. As the kecleon emerged from his ball, he looked behind his trainer and squawked in alarm. Alfgar turned around and saw two women run up the steps and onto the ship. He swore under his breath.

"Liviana, Aurelia, nice to see you again," Alfgar said sarcastically as he reached for his gun.

"Alfgar the Wild," Liviana started. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. After I make you tell us where the Orbs are, of course." With that, she and Aurelia released their pokemon. Liviana sent out a seviper which hissed dangerously upon release and Aurelia sent out a noivern and something else which was released directly into the water.

The seviper leaped at Alfgar but Randy beat it back with a swipe of his tongue. He heard arcanine throw a burst of flame at the noivern and felt the heat from its flames.

"Thunderbolt!" Alfgar called out, and Randy released a torrent of electricity which coursed through the seviper. Liviana called out a command and the seviper leaped forward again, forcing Randy and Alfgar to retreat back a few steps. The seviper then released a burst of acid with Randy barely managing to dodge it, but the kecleon smacked the snake in the side of the head with his tongue while in mid-air.

Suddenly the seviper changed targets and struck arcanine with its muscular body while the noivern simultaneously rammed into it. Arcanine fell into the water with a yelp, and Johnny managed a "Fuck!" before the noivern swiped him into the water as well. Randy took this opportunity to launch a psybeam at the seviper, causing it to screech in pain. Alfgar took a quick look over the boat and into the water to see if Johnny was alright, but instead he saw water splashing and a deep red color tainting the area where Johnny had fallen in. A sharpedo fin was visible as the creature circled underwater.

 _Shit,_ Alfgar thought. He figured the sharpedo was the second pokemon Aurelia released, and that he would be finished as well if he fell in. He wished he had thought to bring Spencer and his gyarados along with him. Randy screeched as he was hit by a swipe of the noivern's wing, but he managed to keep his footing. Alfgar's expression was grim. He was clearly outmatched, and he would have to release another pokemon or two to even the scales. Unfortunately for him, his remaining pokemon were hard to control and unsuited to fighting on such a small boat. Just as he was about to release another one anyway, a burst of water smashed into the noivern and sent it into the water with a splash. The seviper was also hit by a rapid stream of bubbles, causing it to careen backwards. Alfgar turned and saw an old man with snow white hair and a clean white ship captain's uniform emerge. An annoyed crawdaunt and a jubilant pelipper accompanied him. Alfgar smiled. Captain Stafford had given him the perfect distraction. Whipping out his pistol, Alfgar fired two quick shots off at Liviana, both of which were blocked by her seviper's tough scales. Nevertheless, this gave Alfgar the time he needed to run off to the other side of the ship with Randy following close behind.

Alfgar pulled out a lighter and pressed the flame lightly to Randy's scales. He needed to act quickly before someone went after him. As the flame touched the kecleon, his scales took on a red tint as he changed into a fire type. A high-leveled and experienced fire type could faintly sense the presence of the Red Orb, which is why he needed Randy to change types. He had his charizard, Apollo, but Apollo was hard to control and could possibly burn down most of the shipyard, something that would definitely attract the authorities and other meddling trainers. Randy bounded off and Alfgar followed closely behind, and the kecleon led him to a small, poorly-lit room full of boxes and other items. In the midst of all the garbage Alfgar could make out a faint glow of red and blue. The Orbs.

Alfgar cautiously made his way towards the Orbs. He lifted the Red Orb and felt the heat emanating from the Orb and traveling up and down his body. As he slid the Red Orb into his pack, he was suddenly hit by a powerful force and was smashed onto the wall of the small room. As he sat up, his vision swimming and his head pounding, he saw a machoke approach him, its muscles flexing and its teeth and eyes gleaming in the darkness. Alfgar desperately groped for his gun but let out a sigh of relief when he saw Randy's tongue encircle the machoke's neck. As the machoke struggled to remove Randy's tongue and breathe, Alfgar gingerly got to his feet and picked his pack up. He made his way to the Blue Orb but was stopped when he saw the shape of a woman in his peripheral vision.

He turned around and saw Liviana, her green eyes blazing and her pretty face contorted into a snarl. Before he could react, she leapt at him and he dropped the pack once again as she jumped on top of him. She was strong, but he was stronger. He pushed her off of him and now he was on top of her. He brought his arm back and punched her hard in the jaw. As he moved to punch her again, he felt a sharp pain in his left thigh. Liviana had stuck a knife into him, and he hit her again. Suddenly he felt the ship rock with an explosion, and the Blue Orb fell off its pedestal and rolled away into the darkness.

"Police!" Alfgar heard, the sound coming from the docks outside the ship. "Return your pokemon immediately!" Alfgar cursed again. He couldn't hope to fend off Liviana, Aurelia, Captain Stafford, and the authorities at the same time. He got off Liviana, kicked her sharply in the side, picked up his pack, and ran (as best as he could with a knife in his leg) out of the room with his kecleon. He knew that searching for the Blue Orb would only result in either his death or his arrest, so he decided to cut his losses and just leave with the Red Orb.

He released Apollo and the charizard let out a roar. Stealth had gone out the window the moment the police arrived, so he decided to just release his charizard and make a hasty escape. He returned Randy and ordered a smokescreen from Apollo to cover his escape, even though he was on the other side of the boat and the police couldn't see him anyway. He leapt on top of Apollo and, with a flap of the charizard's wings, they were off.

* * *

 _Dex entry #319: sharpedo_

 _"Aye, the 'bullies o' the sea...' Rather take me chance with pirates than abandon ship and jump into waters infested with these things..." - excerpt from an interview with Captain Stern, owner of Stern's Shipyard_

 _Sharpedo are a brutal breed of water pokemon which can be found in seas and oceans all over the world. Because of their dark type attributes, sharpedo are known as the "bullies of the sea" and certainly live up to that name. Sharpedo are known to chase down small fishing boats and capsize them and then tear apart the sailors. They are also fond of tearing open fishing nets and devouring the fisherman's catch, and they do this not out of hunger, but out of hatred towards the humans who invade their territory. If one falls into waters rife with sharpedo, it is advised that he or she remains calm and pretends as if he or she is dead. Even so, this rarely works and more often than not those who tangle with sharpedo are reduced to scraps of flesh and pieces of bone. Sharpedo are considered a level three threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	4. Chapter 4

Edwin sat in the back of the rickety green pick-up truck as it clumsily made its way down the road which connected Jungle Harbor to Fortree City. Edwin lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow and then tapped his marshtomp on the shoulder. Poseidon sprayed Edwin with a small burst of water, but even that was warm and not very refreshing. This part of Hoenn was only slightly warmer than the rest of the region, but the main problem was the humidity.

Since most of Edwin's pokemon were injured, he decided that it would be safer to hitch a ride and take the poorly-paved road to Fortree rather than follow the jungle paths. A kind elderly farmer offered Edwin a ride to Fortree, and he was grateful to have an easier path to the city. However, now that they were actually navigating the pockmarked dirt road, Edwin would describe the journey as anything but easy. Potholes were numerous on the road, and each time the truck drove over one Edwin and Poseidon felt as if they would be thrown out of the truck.

After what felt like hours of travel in the sweltering heat, Edwin noticed the remains of the National Hoenn Weather Research Facility on the side of the road. Parts of the building had burned down, and shattered glass was littered all across the ground. Even though it had been a few days since the attack, police, men in suits, pokemon, and a few soldiers still stood around the facility.

"Damn. Wonder why they would even attack the place," Edwin said to Poseidon. The marshtomp croaked a reply, but Edwin didn't understand much of it. It was said that experienced trainers could almost perfectly understand their pokemon, a phenomenon unexplained by science. Edwin could not wait until he could do the same, though he knew that it would be a gradual process. He could already understand a lot of what his pokemon were trying to say, but he was clearly a long way from understanding them perfectly. Edwin knew that the weather facility marked the halfway point between Jungle Harbor and Fortree, so they still had a long way to go. Edwin checked his phone but to his dismay found that Faustina had still not responded to his texts. He put his phone away and closed his eyes. _I'll probably find her in Fortree. She sounded desperate to get there, so she might still be there._ Edwin drifted off to sleep, thoughts of Faustina and his upcoming gym battle taking over his mind.

* * *

Edwin awoke to find Poseidon shaking him. The truck was stopped, and Edwin heard the old farmer open his door.

"Here we are. Took a while, but we're here," the old man chuckled.

Edwin groggily got to his feet and blinked a few times. Poseidon jumped down beside him and let out a croak. "Thanks a lot. Sorry, I don't have much money on me..."

"That's no problem. I was going this direction anyway," the farmer replied.

Edwin thanked the farmer again and walked deeper into the city. Edwin had been to Fortree before, but the sight of the city still amazed him. Fortree was more of a large village than a city; there were no skyscrapers, no paved roads, and no billboards advertising hair care products or pokemon food. Fortree was surrounded by dense foliage on all sides, and it rested in the heart of the jungle. Residents lived in houses atop trees, and large staircases, ladders, escalators, and elevators provided passage to the city's upper level which was located in the rainforest canopy. Though there was much activity in the trees above, the ground floor of the city was also bustling. The gym loomed in the distance, and the pokemon center rested next to it. There were no cars, no blaring horns, and no bright lights, and one could even look up at night and see the stars poking out of the leaves of the trees. The smell of dirt, rain, and grass was prevalent, and the air was humid and hot.

"How do you like it, Poseidon?" The marshtomp croaked happily. The humidity was comfortable for the water type, and the feel of dirt underneath his feet instead of concrete appealed to his ground-type component.

"I should probably let the others out. They've been stuck inside their balls since we left Petalburg," Edwin said, releasing his other five pokemon.

Shira was a mightyena with a glossy black coat and the hard eyes of a hunter. She was loyal and devoted to her trainer, traits that are not normally common in dark types. Elric was a large pidgeotto. He was had a cast on his wing and was confined to the ground for the time being, and injury he received during the fight against Norman. Edwin's next pokemon was a beedrill called Revina. Revina was a prickly, ill-tempered insect who at times preferred to ignore Edwin's orders during battle and fight her own way. Nevertheless, she was an integral part of Edwin's team and had great respect for her trainer and teammates. Ajax was an electabuzz, and he immediately began sparking and flexing upon release. He was a brave but reckless fighter, qualities that could be useful at times but also qualities that got him knocked out by Norman's slaking fairly quickly. Finally, Elena was a ninetales whose fur shone as brightly as her eyes. She yawned upon being released and frowned after looking around and being assaulted by the humidity. Like Revina, Elena often times ignored Edwin's commands and did as she pleased. Unlike the beedrill, however, Elena had no love for Edwin nor her fellow teammates. She was Edwin's most recent catch, and also one of his most powerful pokemon. Unfortunately for Edwin, Elena did not deign to use her skills to help him win battles.

"Alright guys, this is it. Fortree. Now, I know most of you are injured, but we should probably resume our training as soon as we can so we can challenge the gym leader." Most of his pokemon said something in reply, and Ajax even began buzzing with electricity in anticipation of the fight.

Edwin glanced over his pokemon, examining their injuries. Poseidon couldn't use one of his arms, but the staff at the pokemon center told him it would heal quickly. Shira's injury was probably the most severe, and she couldn't exhaust herself too badly, no matter how eager she was to fight. She would probably sit out the gym battle. Elric's wing was injured and he couldn't fly, but that would also heal quickly as long as he didn't exert himself. Revina was fine for the most part, but she did sustain a lot of damage during the battle against Norman so she would probably be sore. Ajax had a sprained right ankle and limped when he walked, and that would definitely hamper his speed for a while. Elena had one of her paws broken but could fight well for the most part, though Edwin doubted that she would be of much help anyway. Overall, the pokemon center had done an excellent job healing his pokemon and he figured that it would only be a matter of days before the majority of his team was healthy enough to fight a gym leader.

"I guess you guys can have another day to rest. We'll start training tomorrow, but for now we can just look around the city. As long as you all behave, of course. We don't want another incident like that time in Mauville," he said, glancing at his electabuzz who growled in protest. Back in Mauville Ajax had been so energized by meeting and battling the electric pokemon at the gym that he lost control of his electricity and accidentally destroyed some power cables, cutting off electricity to a couple of houses. Faustina explained the situation to the authorities but even after that they were forced to pay a fee and were kicked out of the city. The thought of Faustina made Edwin remember his other reason for visiting Fortree. Faustina still had not replied to his messages, but Edwin figured that he could explore the city and look for her at the same time.

"Hmm, maybe we can go to the upper level. The view from there is amazing." Poseidon croaked in reply.

"Yeah you're right. Ajax would probably accidentally knock someone off a platform and Elena would do the same, except on purpose. What else is there to do on the ground floor?" Fortree had a unique market in the middle of the city where they sold things such as talismans and gems and spices that could be found nowhere else, so Edwin decided to take his team there.

The market was bubbling with activity, and traders were advertising all sorts of goods. Edwin found an affordable but nice open-air restaurant, and he and his team sat down to eat. He knew his pokemon's preferences well enough, and he ordered food for them which befit their diets. He himself ordered roast tailow kebabs, a speciality of Fortree.

Edwin and his team were almost finished their meal when a man dressed in all black with silver gloves and combat boots on approached them. He had plain brown hair and eyes, and his face was unremarkable and easily forgotten. A bright red "R" was emblazoned on his chest, by far the most interesting part about the man. Shira growled as the man approached and Ajax barked a warning, but the man sat down across for Edwin anyway.

"Sorry, I don't mean to intrude," the man began, "but I noticed you have quite the team there."

"Yeah, thanks," Edwin awkwardly said as he swallowed a bit of tailow.

"Oh, I should probably introduce myself. My name's Steve. I'm a recruiter for Team Rocket," the man said, reaching his hand across the table. Edwin wiped the grease off his fingers and onto his napkin before cautiously shaking the man's hand.

"Team Rocket? Isn't that some sort of criminal group?"

"Team Rocket? Criminals? Of course not," Steve said with a smile. "We're the opposite of criminals, in fact. We help people. Sure, we get paid for our services and yes, we are sometimes forced to use violence at times, but always in the name of justice and all that is good in the world. We supply arms to police forces, private militias, we fight common criminals and we help run charities and shelters, but most importantly we aid local and national governments all across the six regions. You see, when the government wants something done that would be unwise or immoral for a police force or military to do, they call us. Have you seen the news lately? About Slateport?"

Edwin shook his head and desperately tried to think of an excuse to get out of the situation. He didn't feel like sitting and listening to Steve preach about how good Team Rocket is.

Steve smiled again. "It's all over the news, it happened just an hour ago. Someone attacked the Slateport Harbor, and they believe that it was a group of Unovan spies. See, if Unova had employed Team Rocket instead of their own spies, we would have gotten the job done and not gotten caught. Now there's trouble for everyone, and war could even break out because of this."

Edwin was shocked to hear this. An attack by Unovan spies would definitely not help the already high tensions between the two regions.

"My last example wasn't very good," Steve continued. "I did not mean to imply that Team Rocket is on Unova's side. We are on everyone's side, and we help anyone who can pay. The point is that Team Rocket helps keep the world in order, whether it be on a small scale or a large scale, and with the war bound to start soon, we could use good trainers like you to help out. Oh! I almost forgot. I've been talking so much that I almost forgot to ask your name."

"Edwin," the blue-eyed boy said, his voice untrusting. "Look, I'm kind of busy right now, maybe we could talk about this later..." Shira growled again, punctuating Edwin's desire for the man to leave.

"Of course. Here, this is my business card," Steve said, sliding a silver card with a bright red "R" stamped on it across the table. "If you ever feel like you want to do something bigger than just travel the region and challenge other trainers, give us a call." With that, the man called Steve finally left Edwin and his team and disappeared into the crowded marketplace.

Edwin glanced at the fancy card and then tossed it into his pack. "That was weird. I didn't really understand what that guy was trying to say." Poseidon croaked in agreement and Shira growled again. She clearly did not like the man. "Oh well. Let's go to the gym and register for our battle. It always helps to do these things in advance."

Fortree Gym was located on the ground floor of the city, and on the outside it looked like all the other pokemon gyms, except for the fact that jungle vines and moss covered parts of the building's exterior. The inside of the gym was spacious, and the furniture was rather plain. Towards the back of the gym, Edwin could see the battlefields and training grounds. The battlefields were grass, and it looked like there was no flooring for that area of the gym. The ceiling was extremely high, which was expected considering it was a flying-type gym. There was no air conditioning in the gym, and Edwin suspected that this was done on purpose to see if the challenger and his pokemon could withstand the jungle heat. Also, Winona's own pokemon would be flying, and the air flow from that would cool them down, giving her an extra advantage. Edwin walked up to the main desk of the gym, behind which was a secretary who had her dark hair in a ponytail and a bored look on her face. She wore a tank top and her skin was covered by a sheen of sweat.

"Hi, I'd like to make an appointment for a gym battle," Edwin said.

The secretary looked at her computer, which looked out of place in a city like Fortree, and then glanced up at Edwin with the same bored look. "The soonest date we can offer you is five days from now. Is that okay with you or would you prefer a later date?"

Edwin thought it over for a second. He figured that most of his pokemon would be healed by then, so he agreed. He then showed the secretary his trainer ID and gave her all the necessary information before leaving the gym. He had signed up for a three-on-three battle, as the last full-team gym battle he fought had not gone so well. Besides, he didn't plant to use all of his pokemon against Winona anyway. Edwin figured that he would go to the pokemon center next and book a room. He hadn't seen Faustina anywhere in the market or the gym, so she might be at the center.

The pokemon center was, as expected, the same as all the other centers across the region. The large lobby was well-lit and the furniture was comfortable, and six flat-screen televisions were mounted on the walls, three on the right wall and three on the left. Sofas and chairs were set up around the televisions, and most of the screens were tuned into the news channel which was talking about the event at Slateport that the Rocket recruiter had told him about. The pokemon center was air conditioned, and relief was plain on Edwin's and his pokemon's faces. Edwin checked in and went upstairs to his room. The room was like any other pokemon center room: relatively small with one bed, a television, a computer, a desk, a small drawer, and a bathroom. The one thing that differed from center to center was the view. Edwin looked out his window and saw some of Fortree's modestly-sized buildings, but the main thing that he noticed was the jungle. The wall of leaves and tropical trees was clearly visible in the distance, and even within the city jungle foliage was prevalent. Many different bird pokemon could be seen flying about, ranging from tailow and swellow to swablu to chatot.

Edwin turned to his pokemon made sure that he hadn't lost anyone. They were all there, even Elena, who jumped up onto his bed and then curled up and went to sleep.

"Here's the plan," Edwin started. "We'll do some light training starting tomorrow, and, as you heard, five days from now we'll challenge the gym. Sound good?" His reply was a chorus of affirmative growls, chirps, buzzes, and other noises. Edwin nodded to his pokemon and then sat down at his desk to rest since his ninetales had taken up the bed.

As Edwin rested his eyes for a moment, he found his thoughts drifting to Faustina: her violet eyes, her lustrous black hair, her slender waist and her curves... Edwin shook his head and chased away those thoughts. He knew that Faustina had feelings for another and that he did not want to ruin his friendship with her by telling her how he really felt, but he was still young and such thoughts were expected. He had spent the whole day in the city and still had not found her, and he was beginning to think that it was hopeless. Though not as vast as other cities, Fortree was still pretty big, and it would be extremely difficult to find someone who did not want to be found in the jungle. Faustina had still not responded to his messages, and Edwin was beginning to think that she had abandoned him for good. Even so, the optimistic part of him figured that she just hadn't seen his messages yet.

As his electabuzz and beedrill started squabbling over something Edwin could not understand, Poseidon walked up to him and let out a croak.

"Yeah, I'm worried about her too. Hopefully she's here somewhere. But there's nothing we can really do about that. For now, let's just focus on beating Winona." The marshtomp croaked in agreement and Edwin sat back in his chair and once again fell asleep to thoughts of Faustina and his gym battle.

* * *

 _Dex entry #038: ninetales_

 _"Anger a ninetales for one day, a thousand years of curses you will pay." - Kantonese proverb_

 _Ninetales are rare pokemon known for their illustrious fur and sly temperaments. These pokemon are native to Kanto and Johto but can be found in a few other places across the world. Though ninetales can be spiteful and violent towards those who mistreat or annoy it, the claim that these pokemon can place a thousand year curses on others is dubious at best. Despite this, the story of Lavender Town in Kanto suggests that ninetales may be more than they appear to be. At its founding, Lavender Town was a picturesque village full of flowers and sunshine and the sound of laughing children. However, after the founder of the town angered a ninetales and was cursed by it, disease struck the town and people and pokemon alike died each day. After that, a devastating fire started in the town and caused many more deaths. Now, Lavender Town is home to only a few brave folk, and a permanent fog looms over the city. No flowers grow there anymore, but it is said that the laughter of children can still be heard if one goes out on a moonless night. Ninetales are considered a level two threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	5. Chapter 5

The pain in his leg burned and Alfgar could sense Apollo begin to tire out from the flying. The charizard had flown him from Route 119 all the way to Slateport City and had only gotten a brief rest before Alfgar required his wings for his escape. Apollo had been flying for close to an hour now, and Alfgar knew that the charizard would need to rest. When he left Slateport, the only thing on Alfgar's mind was to escape; he had not taken the time to choose a direction to fly in. Alfgar tapped twice on the underside of Apollo's neck, signaling the dragon to fly lower. As the charizard descended, Alfgar took a look at the landscape underneath him. He realized that they had flown north after escaping from Slateport, and that they were now nearing the Great Hoenn Desert as well as Lavaridge Town. Since Apollo was tired and Alfgar's leg needed medical attention, he decided that they would land in Lavaridge. After a few more minutes of flying, the town came into view and Alfgar signaled to his charizard to land in Lavaridge.

Lavaridge Town was a quiet, cozy village nestled in the side of Mt. Chimney, a dormant volcano. The town had a warm air to it, and the atmosphere was tranquil and calming. Lavaridge was small and out-of-the-way, and as a result, not many people visited or lived in the town. Still, the famous hot springs did attract a number of tourists, and people and pokemon from across Hoenn visited Lavaridge to soak themselves in the comforting waters of the hot springs.

Alfgar had Apollo land in front of the pokemon center so that he could get his leg wound patched as well as give his charizard a rest. However, as Apollo descended in front of the center, Alfgar noticed that two people stood outside the building and watched as he and his charizard landed. One was a young woman with pinkish-red hair tied up in a messy ponytail which caused her hair to look as if it had exploded out from the back of her head. She wore a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. Next to her was an old man who, despite his age, was stocky and stalwart. Beside the old man was a grizzled charizard covered in scars.

As Apollo landed in front of the center and the two people and the other charizard, he roared and stood up to his full height, causing Alfgar to lose his balance and tumble onto the dirt. Alfgar grunted due to the pain in his leg but quickly got to his feet to calm his charizard. Apollo roared again, smoke drifting from his nostrils. The other charizard looked annoyed and roared back at Apollo. It was clear that the other charizard was much older, as some of its scales were torn off and its skin was slightly darker. The charizard also had a hole where its left eye should have been. Apollo let out a shriek, angry that the other charizard was not taking him seriously. Alfgar knew that there was no way that he could calm his charizard now, so he returned Apollo and apologized to the two humans and the one charizard.

The old man laughed. "That's quite alright. I remember when Argon here was young. He was just as hot-blooded, if not more!" The old charizard puffed out smoke at the old man's teasing. "Sorry, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Uldin, and this here is my daughter, Flannery." The young woman lazily waved in greeting.

"Flannery? As in the gym leader?"

"Yup, that's me," the woman said.

Uldin laughed again. "Of course you recognize my daughter, but no one ever remembers me! I used to be gym leader too, you know."

"Obviously I know you. Uldin Firelance, one of the most renowned gym leaders ever. I just didn't recognize both of you on sight, that's all." Alfgar had heard many tales of Uldin the Firelance and how he famously slew a murderous and powerful salamence which had been ravaging Mount Chimney and its nearby towns with nothing but his combusken and a lance which he dipped in fire. It was said that his combusken distracted the salamence, almost losing its life in the process, while Uldin snuck up from behind and skewered the beast's brain with his fire-tempered lance. Uldin also led the effort to seal Groudon in the heart of Mount Chimney after Team Magma and Team Aqua had released Groudon and Kyogre from their rest. Alfgar told Uldin the stories he'd heard, and the old man laughed again.

"Well, well! This young man knows his history! Surprising as it may be, not many youngsters have even heard the tales of my exploits. Come, let's head to the tavern. I'll buy you a drink just for knowing about me!"

"Sorry, I think I have more pressing matters to attend to," Alfgar replied, pointing to the knife in his leg. He had not removed if for fear of bleeding to death.

"By Groudon! How'd that happen?" Uldin asked.

"Met some bandits on the road, but luckily for me, a charizard is a formidable opponent. Those bandits are now serving as a pre-cooked meal for anything that's hungry," Alfgar lied.

"Well done! Never mess with a charizard, that's an important lesson everyone should learn. Come to think of it, I haven't seen another charizard in these parts for a while. Come, let's go inside the center."

"I think I can handle it myself. I'm sure both of you are very busy, and I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time," Alfgar said, hoping that the two would take the hint and leave. Though the two trainers were nice enough, Alfgar did not want to be in the presence of two Hoenn authorities right after he had stolen the Red Orb, and he did not like the way Argon the charizard was looking at him. High-leveled fire types could sense the Red Orb, after all.

"Nonsense! We weren't doing anything important. Besides, I'd like to know how you got that charizard of yours."

With that, Alfgar the Wild reluctantly followed the two fire-type trainers into the center. As he limped into the lobby, a nurse immediately rushed over and began looking at his leg. He sat down with a grunt and cringed as the nurse gingerly pulled out the knife and began cleaning the wound. Alfgar set his pack down beside him, and Argon craned his long dark orange neck and sniffed at the pack, then looked at Alfgar with his gleaming eyes. Luckily, Uldin was too absorbed in some story to notice and Flannery was texting, and had no interest whatsoever in anything going on around her.

It was then that Alfgar glanced over to one of the mounted flat screens and noticed that the news was covering the attack on Stern's Shipyard. His pulse quickened as the report mentioned that the attack was done by a group of Unovan spies, and that Captain Stafford was dead. He immediately thought that Aurelia and Liviana had somehow gotten themselves captured and that they told the Honnese authorities about him, but then he realized that the news report probably would have said that. Also, he knew the two women from his days in the military and they were some of the best Unova had to offer. He doubted that a simple Slateport police dispatch could have captured them. Just as Alfgar was beginning to calm down a bit, Argon growled something to Uldin that made the old man stop mid-sentence.

"Something wrong?" Alfgar asked, hoping to talk his way out of the situation.

"Argon says that he senses something strange, something powerful in your pack. Do you mind if we have a look?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alfgar said as the nurse finished bandaging his leg. "But if you really want to, go ahead. There's nothing interesting in there." As Uldin bent over to grab Alfgar's pack from the floor, Alfgar rocketed his fist towards the old man's chin and knocked him backwards. Alfgar leapt from the chair, taking care to land most of his weight on his good leg, and then sent out Randy and Apollo as he picked up his pack.

"Randy, psybeam on that charizard. Apollo, smokescreen. We're getting out of here." Alfgar rushed out of the pokemon center after giving his commands and waited for his pokemon to follow. The doors flung open and Randy darted out, chased closely by a burst of fire. Black smoke slithered out of the doors as Apollo flew out, roaring all the while. Flannery and Uldin Firelance ran out as well, the former with pokeballs in her hands and the latter with Argon beside him. Flannery released a torkoal and a camerupt from the pokeballs but Uldin only had his charizard.

Alfgar stood for a moment, contemplating his next move. He would need to leave quickly, as the police and maybe even other trainers would soon arrive. He figured that he would wait for an opening in the battle and then fly away, so he sent out his luxray, Luce, to help out.

Before Alfgar could bark out any orders, Apollo took to the air and charged the other charizard, sending the older lizard backwards in a flurry of fire and blood. The torkoal and camerupt let out streams of fire, but Randy and Luce were much quicker and easily avoided the flames. Alfgar was lucky that Uldin didn't have his full team with him, as facing two gym leaders would be close to impossible even for him. As an added bonus, Uldin's charizard, though experienced, was old and slow, and Flannery had only been a gym leader for less than a year.

"Randy, Luce! Get behind the camerupt and torkoal and then attack. Keep them on their toes, they're much slower than you are." The kecleon took his advice and vaulted over the torkoal while simultaneously wrapping his tongue around the turtle's neck, but Luce had other plans. The luxray rushed at the camerupt and slashed its face and then rushed off towards Uldin, whose charizard and his only means of defense was wrapped up in a battle with Apollo. Before Alfgar could even think of stopping the luxray, Luce jumped on top of Uldin and ripped the man's throat out, splattering blood all over the surrounding soil.

Everything stopped, and the battlefield was covered in silence until Apollo was thrown back towards Alfgar by a powerful seismic toss. The younger charizard got up and started roaring, oblivious to the death of Uldin Firelance. Flannery was frozen in place with another pokeball in her hand, a look of shock and terror plastered over her face. Alfgar took this opportunity to put his escape plan into action.

"Luce, thunderbolt that charizard," he said as Argon flew over to the scene. Before the old charizard had a chance to react to the death of his master, Alfgar's luxray sent electricity coursing through its veins. Alfgar then called his own charizard over and jumped atop the great orange dragon, sitting himself in between the fire type's wings. As Apollo took off, Alfgar returned his two pokemon on the ground. Flannery did not give chase, and Alfgar assumed that she had no flying types with her. Argon was writhing on the ground with paralysis, but Alfgar knew that the old charizard would give chase as soon as it was able. Spurring Apollo onward, Alfgar leaned forward and yelled into his charizard's ear.

"Head for the desert! They won't chase us there!" Apollo and Alfgar flew for almost thirty minutes, and luckily for them, no one gave chase. Eventually the two could see the golden dunes of the Great Hoenn Desert, though their vision was slightly obscured by the permanent sandstorm that raged throughout the desert. As Apollo landed after flying a mile or so into the desert, Alfgar lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the storm. The sandstorm wasn't too bad today, but it was still a hindrance.

 _"I hate this fucking sand,"_ Apollo grunted as he spread his wings in an attempt to shield himself from the grains of sand that sped through the arid air.

"Alright, I hear you. Have a rest, you've earned it," Alfgar replied as he recalled the charizard. It was rare when Apollo was calm enough to talk so that Alfgar could understand him, and the fact that he understood him perfectly now told Alfgar that the charizard was extremely tired.

"Well, well, look who it is."

The sudden voice caused Alfgar to jump and he quickly turned around to locate the source. He identified the speaker as a man with messy and spiky brown hair and cool blue eyes. The man was around the same age as Alfgar and of the same height, and his build was less muscular but still athletic. He wore a blue long-sleeved shirt and black traveling pants with brown hiking boots. A cocky smile rested on the man's face, and Alfgar instantly recognized him as Gary Oak.

"Gary? What are you doing in Hoenn?" Alfgar asked, confusion clouding his voice.

"I could ask the same of you," Gary countered, his cocky smile still on his face. "I see you've been busy, though."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've seen the news. The Brotherhood of the Black. I know that's you."

Alfgar froze and his hand instinctively reached towards his pokeballs, though something about the way Gary said it was strange. "How could you possibly know?"

"I saw it in a dream. I saw a lot in that dream, actually. It's the reason why I'm here."

Alfgar stood still for a moment, a mixture of confusion and relief swirling around in his head. He chose his words carefully. "So you know what we're doing here, then?"

"Of course, and I think it's insane and likely to get us all killed. But I'm not about to defy Arceus when he tells me to go to Hoenn and help you."

"How much do you know?" Alfgar was surprised to see that Gary Oak had a similar dream; he thought it had been limited to the soldiers on Operation Iridescent.

"Enough. Now, why are you here in the desert? Shouldn't you be off hunting legendaries somewhere? Or are you running from something?"

"Have you seen the news reports lately? About Slateport?"

"A few hours ago, yeah, but it didn't say anything about you, so I don't see why you're here."

"What the news didn't mention was that I stole the Red Orb," Alfgar explained.

"You have the Red Orb? Nice. What about the Blue Orb?"

"I couldn't get it, the police and some Unovan agents showed up. But that's not why I'm here. I just killed Uldin Firelance."

Gary Oak's eyes widened in shock. "Uldin Firelance? How'd you manage that?"

"I took him by surprise, and he only had one pokemon with him. I didn't mean to do it, really, but what's done is done," Alfgar said as he shielded his eyes from the sand as the wind began to pick up.

Gary squinted and pulled out a handkerchief and a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. He noticed Alfgar looking at him and said, "I came prepared. Seems like you didn't, though."

Alfgar was still dressed in his trainer's garb which did not provide much protection from a sandstorm. "I didn't exactly plan to visit the desert."

Gary grinned as he put his sunglasses on. "Well, looks like fate brought us together anyway. Since you're laying low for a while, you can help me help you. I'm here to catch Regirock."

"Regirock? Do you even know where to find it?"

"Not exactly," Gary replied, "but there's a village a few miles into the desert where we can gather information. They don't have much contact with the outside world, so I doubt they'll know you if they see you."

Alfgar nodded to Gary and followed him as he started walking deeper into the desert. He was unsure whether Flannery had or the nurse who had bandaged his leg had gotten a good look at his face, as the former had been absorbed in her cell phone while the latter was focusing on patching up Alfgar's injury. If he was lucky, the authorities would only have a vague description of him and he would not have to worry about being recognized. Alfgar quickened his pace and walked up next to Gary, lifting an arm to shield himself from the desert wind.

"So, you decided to drop everything and come to Hoenn?" Alfgar asked Gary, straining his voice so that he could be heard over the ever-increasing wind.

"When Arceus speaks to you in a dream and orders you to do something, you don't exactly have a choice," Gary replied. "Besides, I wasn't really even doing anything back in Kanto. I helped Gramps with his research for a while, but that got boring quick. I was meant for adventure, not lab work."

Alfgar wasn't surprised that Gary got restless after being in Kanto for so long. Gary Oak was a cocky egomaniac, always looking to impress others and build his reputation by battling and doing stupidly dangerous things. The Vision provided him with an excuse to get out of Kanto, a place where he had nothing left for him.

"How's Red doing?" Alfgar asked, changing the subject. "He's probably a lot busier now that he's a Gold Champion, and the Indigo Champion no less."

Gary snorted. "Busier? Fuck no. All he does is sit up on Mount Silver and sulk his life away. I haven't talked to him in ages, and for all I know, he's still up there."

"I thought you two were over that."

"I am," Gary said, traces of anger sharpening his tone. "But I don't know if he is."

Alfgar doubted that either of them were over the battle. A year ago, Gary Oak and Red were the only two challengers who made it past the Indigo League's Elite Four. Red fought Lance Drake, the Indigo Champion, and defeated him, therefore making Red the new Champion. However, Gary still had to battle for the title, and since Lance had been dethroned, Gary fought Red instead.

The championship battle was intense and bloody, and the final matchup was disastrous. The battle came down to Gary's charizard versus Red's venasaur, and after a long and brutal battle, Gary's charizard had its throat opened by a vicious razor leaf attack, killing it. Because of this, Red was declared the winner and the Indigo Champion, but his venasaur succumbed to its burns and passed away shortly after the battle had ended. Both trainers agreed that the deaths were accidental and that the two harbored no ill will towards each other, but the death of a starter pokemon is devastating to any trainer and the two never fully reconciled. Alfgar gleaned this from Gary's tone and decided not to press the subject.

"What's the name of this village?" Alfgar asked, hoping to get Gary's mind off Red and the championship battle.

"I forget. Some weird indigenous name. Shouldn't take us too long to get there though." Despite its name, the Great Hoenn Desert was not very big. The desert was more of a valley filled with sand, and it had Mount Chimney bordering it on one side and another lesser mountain on the other. The desert was narrow, and one could cross its width in less than a day of walking. It was much longer than it was wide, but even its length was not very impressive. Provided he or she had the time and resources, someone could walk the length of the desert in a week. Travelers and trainers rarely got lost in the desert; it was the dangerous pokemon and desert tribes that resulted in the majority of the deaths.

Sure enough, after a few hours of walking, Alfgar the Wild and Gary Oak reached the village. The village was incredibly small, and the population of the town could not have been more than thirty people. A few houses of clay were cluttered around the main square of the village, and a small and dust-covered pokemon center rested among the structures of red clay. The square itself was small as well, and a fountain spurted water into the air in the middle of the plaza. A few tables and chairs surrounded the fountain, but the rest of the small plaza was open space. Small stalls and vendors lined the outskirts of the plaza, but only a few people were shopping there.

The square was completely empty, so Gary and Alfgar sat down at a table close to the fountain. Alfgar could feel the spray of the water from the fountain and Gary removed his sunglasses and handkerchief. The sandstorm was largely blocked by the houses which encircled the plaza, so only a few grains of sand floated in the air.

"Damn, this place is deserted," Gary said as he drained the contents of a water bottle. "I heard it was small, but I didn't expect it to be this empty."

"Not many people come this way, I guess. There's nothing in this desert but sand, rocks, and a few species of pokemon," Alfgar noted as he too finished the last of his water. "We should head to the pokemon center. There might be more people in there, and I need to heal some of my pokemon."

The outside of the center was coated in sand and dust, and the inside was no better. Grains of sand covered the floor, and lights flickered on and off over one section of the center. There were no televisions mounted on the walls and there were no telephones or computers. Two worn-out sofas were placed in the small lobby, but they did not look at all comfortable. A tan-skinned teenager was sprawled out on one of the couches with a dusty book in his hands. A single nurse manned the front desk, her blonde hair cut short. She wore a rough cloak over a blue t-shirt, and her skin was tanned. From her appearance Alfgar judged that she was not an indigenous tribesman but a volunteer from the outside, and her tanned skin indicated that she had been in the desert for a while.

Alfgar handed Apollo's ball over to the nurse and glanced warily at the center's outdated equipment. The healing process wouldn't be as efficient with the old setup, but it was better than nothing. Alfgar headed over to the sofas and saw Gary talking to the indigenous teenager.

The boy was shaking his head at some question Gary had asked him. "Elder, talk. He know much." It was clear that he boy did not speak English very well, and Alfgar saw that the book the boy had been reading was written in a language he did not recognize.

"Alright, thanks for your help," Gary said and turned away from the boy. "Looks like we gotta find this village elder. Did you ask the nurse about Regirock?" Alfgar shook his head, and Gary sighed.

"She probably doesn't know anything either. We should ask her where to find the village elder, though," Gary said. Just as Alfgar was about to turn around and go back to the nurse, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw the nurse holding his charizard's pokeball.

"I'm sorry, but our Rejuvinator just shut down so we won't be able to heal your pokemon right now," she said, handing the ball back to Alfgar. "It's an old machine, but it's the only one we have."

"Ever think about getting a new one?" Alfgar asked, slightly annoyed that Apollo wouldn't be rested.

"The last person we sent out of the desert to get supplies never returned. Also, new equipment is expensive and the villagers just don't have the money. We used to have a donations box but too few people stopped by, and even fewer donated."

"Do you happen to know anything about Regirock?" Gary broke in.

The nurse seemed surprised at the name. "No one calls it Regirock here. The villagers call it 'Rugugoaga,' and it's like a god to them. What do you want with it?"

"We're here to catch it," Gary declared with his trademark cocky smile. Alfgar cringed. He doubted that the villagers would like it when they heard that two outsiders had come to capture their god.

"You're not the first to say that," the nurse said. "A group came by here a week ago seeking it as well. They have yet to return."

"Yeah, yeah. They're probably not half the trainers we are. Now where's this village elder?" Gary demanded.

The nurse must have been annoyed by Gary's rude disregard, but if she was she didn't show it. "The big red house with the golden rocks packed into it. Take a left as soon as you leave the center."

Alfgar thanked her as he moved to follow Gary who had rushed out of the center as soon as the nurse had finished her sentence. In a few minutes, the two trainers reached the house the nurse spoke of. It was by no means large, but it was bigger than the other clay huts that surrounded it. Like the nurse had said, a few golden rocks were packed into the clay, forming some sort of pattern. Gary barged into the hut, pushing open the wooden door without bothering to knock. The inside of the house was filled with smoke and four old men sat around, each of them smoking a pipe. The old men were brown-skinned and were dressed in roughspun rags.

"Which one of you is the village elder?" Gary shouted as he invaded the hut. Alfgar sighed at Gary's lack of respect. Alfgar was definitely not the epitome of politeness and gracefulness, but he knew that in this case, being rude and disrespectful would only make things harder for everyone.

"That would be me," said one of the old men. He did not look too different from the others, and there was nothing on his person that made him stand out. His English was surprisingly good, though he did speak with a slight accent.

"We're looking for Regirock," Gary blurted out, completely disregarding the nurse's words. "I was told that you could tell us where to find it." Alfgar thought that the elder would be offended by Gary's bluntness, but luckily the old man seemed unperturbed.

"I am afraid you have arrived too late," the elder said, pausing to cough. White smoke drifted from his mouth and nostrils. "A group of men came a week ago, looking for Rugugoaga. They never returned, and ever since they left I have not felt Rugugoaga's presence either."

"Are you saying that these men captured Regirock?" Alfgar asked.

"I fear they have," the village elder replied, his tone grave. "Rugugoaga has not accepted any of our offerings since the men left, and I do not sense its presence either."

"Who were these men? What did they look like?" Alfgar feared that the Hoennese government had beat them to Regirock.

"They wore black and silver clothing, and written on their chests was a large letter 'R.'"

"Team Rocket," Gary said with a dark look. Alfgar did not like this new development at all. The Hoennese government had probably employed Team Rocket, which made them all the more dangerous.

Alfgar turned to Gary. "We should leave. The Honnese government probably hired Team Rocket to collect the legendaries, and it seems as if they've beat us to Regirock. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Gary hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "But I swear, old man, if you're lying to us..."

"He's telling the truth," Alfgar interrupted. "Let's go." With that Alfgar thanked the elder and left the hut with Gary. The two began walking towards the market to refill their water bottles and stock up on supplies.

"What now?" Gary asked as they approached the small group of stalls and vendors.

"I'm not sure. So we know for sure that Hoenn has Regirock and the Blue Orb, but we have no idea what else they have. Maybe we should go after Registeel or Regice?"

Gary shook his head. "If they have Regirock, they probably have Registeel and Regice or are at least close to capturing them. No, we need to go after bigger game. Rayquaza."

"Are you serious? Rayquaza is one of the most powerful legendaries in the world. I was hoping to go after him after we had already caught a lot of the legendaries so that the fight would be easier, and you want to go after him with only Groudon?"

"Not Groudon," Gary corrected as he purchased a bottle of water. "We won't be able to get Groudon right now. Hoenn knows that we have the Red Orb, so Groudon's resting place in Mount Chimney is probably heavily guarded. I say we get Rayquaza first and then go after Groudon."

"Gary, I always knew you were one to challenge yourself but I never knew that you were stupid as well," Alfgar said, incredulous. "There is no way we can get Rayquaza with no legendaries to help us."

"Damn, you seriously lack confidence," Gary replied, his tone disapproving. "Look at us. I'm a Silver Champion and you're a pretty skilled trainer yourself. You also have your Brotherhood of the Black to help you, and I'm sure they're no pushovers either. We can take Rayquaza."

The two finished gathering supplies and once again headed into the desert. The sandstorm had largely died down, and only slow breezes glided through the dry air. Alfgar was still unsure about attacking Rayquaza, but he had to admit that Gary's plan did have some sense to it. If they had Rayquaza, the other legendaries would not be nearly as hard to capture, and they would be at a huge advantage when compared to the Hoennese government.

"Alright, we'll go for Rayquaza," Alfgar decided after thinking the proposal over for some time. "We'll need to go to my hideout first, though. The Brothers must be wondering what happened at Slateport."

Gary nodded. "And we'll need time to prepare and gather supplies and other volunteers. After that, it's the Sky Pillar for us."

* * *

 _Dex entry #384: Rayquaza_

 _"We thought all was lost. The sea swelled on one side, drowning people and pokemon alike, and the sun baked us on the other. It was then that Rayquaza arrived. With a fearsome roar and burst of speed, Rayquaza knocked down both Groudon and Kyogre and ended their quarrel almost immediately. The waves returned to normal size and the sun stopped burning so intensely, and everything and everyone was calm again. We didn't even have a chance to thank him before he disappeared back into the sky." - Excerpt from an interview with Wallace Waterpool, former Grand Champion of Hoenn_

 _Rayquaza is a large, dragon-type legendary pokemon from Hoenn. He is said to live in the Ozone layer, and he is seldom seen by humans. Little is known about Rayquaza, but he is treated as a god by some and it is said that he rests at the top of Sky Pillar, a tall, ancient tower built in the ocean just outside of Lilycove. Rayquaza is most known for helping to stop the War of Fire and Water between Team Magma and Groudon and Team Aqua and Kyogre. Groudon and Kyogre ravaged Hoenn, and Teams Magma and Aqua soon lost control of their pokemon. Authorities and trainers from all across Hoenn failed to stop the beasts, but Rayquaza luckily descended from the heavens and struck down Groudon and Kyogre, making them weak enough to be sealed away. Rayquaza's appearance immediately stopped the intense weather effects that came with Groudon and Kyogre as well, and all was well in Hoenn again._


	6. Chapter 6

Edwin sighed as he entered the gym. The atmosphere was no less humid than it was the last time he visited, and even though he had left his orange jacket back at his room in the pokemon center, he still felt the effects of the jungle heat. His swampert croaked deeply beside him. Poseidon had evolved after hours of training in the unforgiving heat and humidity of the jungle, and most of his injuries had healed over the course of the week. Edwin's team in general was far more healthy than it had been coming out of Petalburg, and he was glad for it as he had a daunting task ahead of him.

Winona was not known to be a particularly difficult leader, but she was no pushover either. Edwin had done his research before the battle, and he had informed his pokemon about the flying-type leader's tactics as well. He felt adequately prepared, but he still got a little bit nervous before every gym battle. One of the gym trainers walked Edwin over to the plain-looking battlefield, and he returned Poseidon as he awaited Winona.

After a few minutes, Winona appeared on the other side of the battlefield with three pokeballs clipped to her belt. Winona wore a strange looking blue and white aviation suit, complete with a blue flying cap. She seemed pretty, with her matching lavender eyes and hair and her long eyelashes, but Edwin was slightly put off by her weird garb. The two trainers made their way to the center of the battlefield where they shook hands and exchanged greetings.

On the way back to his corner, Edwin turned to look at the stands and saw the small audience present for his battle. The spectators consisted of a handful of gym trainers, and Edwin suspected that they were there to watch Winona and did not care at all how he fared. As Edwin returned to his side of the field, the referee began explaining the rules of the gym battle.

Edwin had heard the rules many times by now, but he listened anyway. The referee gave some background information about Edwin and declared that this would be a Level Six Battle since Edwin already had five badges. This was mostly for the crowd, as Winona had no doubt known all of this information beforehand. The referee introduced Winona and then went on to explain that each battle would continue until one pokemon was knocked out, recalled, or killed. He also said that there would be no substitutions, and that the battle would be three-on-three, as had been decided beforehand. He declared that Winona would send out her pokemon first, and then yelled for the battle to begin.

Winona's first pokemon was a swellow, a common bird pokemon in Hoenn. Edwin smiled and sent out Ajax, his electabuzz. The yellow pokemon began sparking and growling upon release, and he flexed his biceps as he crackled with electricity.

Edwin had a strategy in mind that would allow him to win with only two pokemon. Winona was the traditional sixth gym leader in the Hoenn circuit, and Edwin was facing her as his sixth badge as well. This meant that the team Winona used against the trainers with five badges was fairly predictable as so many trainers challenged her as their sixth gym leader. Edwin was able to find this team easily, and he had drawn up a plan in preparation.

He figured that Winona would use a swellow, an altaria, and one other flying type. Winona's signature pokemon was her altaria named Skylirr, and though Edwin knew that Skylirr was too powerful to face a five-badge trainer, he also knew that Winona would still use an altaria as her trump card against him. The altaria would be sent out last, as expected from any gym leader who used his or her signature pokemon. He also knew about the swellow because it was so common in Hoenn, and it would probably be the "easy" opponent in his match. Gym leaders usually used one pokemon that shouldn't be too difficult for the challenger to beat.

To sum up, Edwin knew that Winona would use her swellow first and her altaria last, with another pokemon (a pelipper, a skarmory, a tropius, or a noctowl) in between. Edwin figured that he would use Ajax as his opener to easily dispatch the swellow and either knockout or at least damage the next pokemon. He would then send out Poseidon, his strongest, against the altaria. Poseidon would hopefully be able to beat the dragon bird, but if he was overcome, then Edwin would send out his pidgeotto to finish the weakened altaria.

The battle started immediately, and Winona ordered her swellow to fly. The dark blue and red bird flapped its wings and flew into the air with a squawk.

"Shoot it out of the air with a thunderbolt." Edwin grimaced as Ajax's attack went wide and missed the swellow completely. Ajax never was good at long distance attacks, and Edwin realized that Winona would be in the air a lot and that he would need to rely on long-range strikes. _I thought up all this strategy and failed to take into account the fact that these things can fucking fly._ Edwin felt like slapping himself.

"Dive bomb it." Winona's voice was calm and confident, but Edwin snapped out of his self-hate as he realized that the gym leader had made a mistake. As the bird came close to Ajax, Edwin yelled out his next command.

"Thunderpunch!" The electabuzz shot out his fist and knocked the swellow clear out of the air and sent electricity through the bird's wings. "Get on top of it, Ajax! Thunderpunch it until it can't move, and don't let it get back into the air!"

One benefit of electric attacks was that the victim would be slow to recover due to the jolts of electricity coursing through its veins, and this allowed Ajax to jump on top of the faster swellow and begin thrashing it with his fists of electricity. Winona recalled her pokemon; there was nothing she could do for the bird once Ajax had it pinned. Edwin allowed himself another smile. Winona had definitely gone easy on him for that first matchup, but swellow were not masters of long-range attacks either. A quick, close-range attack was Winona's only option, no matter how bad of an option it was.

Edwin's grin grew even wider when he saw Winona's next pokemon. A pelipper appeared from Winona's pokeball with a loud caw, and Ajax beat his fists against his chest, sending electricity flying from the static fur.

"To the air. Get above the electabuzz." The pelipper took flight and began flapping towards Ajax. Edwin waited till the pelipper was directly above Ajax, and then shouted "Thunderbolt!" as the same time Winona yelled "Spit up!"

Even Ajax could not fail at shooting electricity straight upwards, and Edwin watched with satisfaction as the pelipper was shocked by the electabuzz's attack. However, before the pelipper was electrified, it managed to release a downpour of digested material and other substances right onto Ajax's head. Though the pelipper was sent to the ground, clearly knocked out, Ajax was also taken out by the pelipper's attack.

Edwin recalled his electabuzz and wondered whether Winona's move was even legal. The pelipper had clearly stockpiled a lot before the battle, and Winona only needed one move to unleash the energy-infused pile of digested material. As Edwin brought out Poseidon's pokeball, he realized what Winona had done. She had used swellow's dive bomb to judge Edwin's tactics. Once she saw that Ajax would wait for the attack to come instead of immediately counterattacking, she knew that the Edwin would let the pelipper come to Ajax before he unleashed an attack of his own. This allowed Winona a sure fire way of taking out Ajax, as electric pokemon were dangerous to a flying-type trainer. Though she had lost two pokemon already, something told Edwin that Winona was not giving up yet.

Poseidon and the altaria entered the battlefield at the same time, one roaring a challenge while the other chirped in excitement. Edwin was not worried, as he had another pokemon in reserve even if Poseidon was knocked out.

"Cotton guard," Winona ordered. Altaria fluffed up its feathers and seemed to grow in size. _Smart,_ thought Edwin. Swampert were known for their immense physical strength, and cotton guard would greatly raise the altaria's defense.

"Water gun," Edwin called out. The attack hit the altaria straight in the face, but the dragon bird only chirped in annoyance before flapping its fluffy wings and ascending to the air. The altaria then shot out a purple-green flame which hit Poseidon, who shrugged it off with a roar.

Edwin thought quickly. Poseidon had no way of reaching the altaria as long as it was in the air, so he first needed to ground it. _But how?_ As Edwin thought up a strategy, Poseidon continued to be peppered with dragon breath attacks.

"Surf!" Edwin called out, and Poseidon let out an explosion of water from his mouth which slammed into the altaria. Surf was weaker without an actual source of water nearby, and as a result, the altaria only chirped with distress and flapped its wings violently as the water hit it. It stayed airborne. Poseidon continued to be hit with dragon breath attacks, and Edwin cursed. Suddenly, Winona called for the altaria to dive bomb Poseidon. Edwin could not believe it. Winona had made the same mistake twice.

"Slam it into the ground, Poseidon!" Edwin yelled, but then sucked in his breath as he saw why Winona had ordered a dive bomb. Poseidon was frozen in place, unable to move due to paralysis from the dragonbreath attacks. Edwin cringed as the altaria slammed into Poseidon and then continued to assault him with its dragon breath from the air. Edwin cursed again and recalled Poseidon. There was nothing the swampert could do in that situation. Edwin tossed his last pokeball into the air and released his pidgeotto, Elric.

The bird pokemon took to the air immediately and let out a "caw!" Elric's wing injury had largely healed, and he was able to fly with relative comfort. The pidgeotto was large and robust, and Edwin suspected that he would soon evolve as well. Even so, Edwin wondered whether Elric would be able to take out Winona's altaria. The dragon bird had barely been touched by Poseidon, and Edwin had hoped that if Elric was even sent out, he would only have to face an extremely weak altaria.

"Dragon breath from a distance, and claw it up if it gets too close," Winona ordered. Edwin decided that he would also have to fight from a distance. The altaria's defense was still enhanced, and if it came down to talons and scratching, altaria would most definitely win.

"Twister," Edwin told his pokemon. Elric began flapping his wings and sent out a small twister towards the altaria, and this attack actually caused the gym leader's pokemon to cry out in pain. The altaria sent a dragon breath attack as payback, but Elric easily avoided it. He was much better at dodging than Poseidon was.

"Speed in close, Elric." The pidgeotto flew straight towards the altaria, and the dragon bird made no move to evade. Edwin smirked. Winona had come to the same conclusion as he had: altaria would win in close quarters combat.

Unfortunately for her, Edwin had something different in mind. "Feather dance," he commanded. Elric shed some feathers and then blew them towards the altaria with a gust, causing the dragon bird's attack to lower. The feathers would simultaneously distract and calm the other bird, therefore hampering its attacking abilities.

"Now, steel wing followed by a twister." Elric's wings hardened like steel and slammed into the altaria as it struggled with the feathers. Before the dragon bird had a chance to recover, Elric sent a twister its way and caused it to lose its ability to stay in the air. As the altaria fell to the ground, Edwin shouted.

"Steel wing it as it falls! Don't make its descent a pleasant one." Winona could do nothing but watch as her altaria was buffeted with hardened wings as it fell to the ground. The bird dragon eventually hit the ground with a crash, and Elric landed across from it as it struggled to get up. The pidgeotto was breathing heavily, exhausted from the repeated steel wings.

"Roost," Winona said.

"No!" Yelled Edwin. "Quick attack! Now!" Despite his exhaustion, Elric sped across the field and slammed into the altaria before it could begin resting. The cotton guard had mostly worn off by now, and as a result, the dragon bird could not take the hit and collapsed. A red beam of light absorbed the altaria into its pokeball, and Elric collapsed to the ground moments after the referee declared Edwin the winner of the battle. Edwin recalled his pidgeotto and grinned. He walked to the center of the battlefield and shook Winona's hand.

"Good battle," she said. "Now if you'll follow me, I'll have your badge for you." Edwin followed Winona into her office in the back of the gym, just past the battlefields. The room was spacious, but the thing Edwin appreciated the most was the presence of a ceiling fan.

Winona handed him a silver badge in the shape of a bird's wing. "It's called the Feather Badge," she told him. "So, are you heading to Mosdeep next?"

"I actually already have the badge from there. I just have Petalburg and Sootopolis left."

Winona then handed Edwin a package containing a small computer chip. "It's the technical machine 'aerial ace.' You didn't see it in action today, but it's a pretty useful move. Since you already had five badges, I'm assuming you know how to use one."

Edwin nodded. "Thanks." With that, Winona blinked her long eyelashes and wished him well on his journey. Edwin was almost sorry to leave the cool room and go back into the hot and humid atmosphere of Fortree, but he then remembered that he had two jobs to do in the city. He still had not found Faustina.

Edwin checked his phone again and found that Faustina still had not responded to his messages. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked back to the pokemon center. He resigned himself to the fact that Faustina had only been using him, and that she had abandoned him forever now. He could come up with no other reason why Faustina was ignoring him. _Unless she's dead or injured._ Edwin doubted that possibility, though. Faustina was a stronger trainer than he was, and she could handle herself.

Edwin walked through the doors of the doors of the pokemon center and handed over paths balls of the three pokemon he had used in the battle. He then decided to go out into the city and see if he could find anything.

* * *

It was sunset when Edwin returned to the pokemon center, and he had yet to find anything regarding his missing traveling companion. As he picked up his pokemon and walked up the steps to his room, he decided that he would give up trying to find Faustina. _If she doesn't want to be found, then there's no way I can change her mind_ , he thought. He quickly pushed thoughts of her out of his head. He had just won his sixth gym badge, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin his celebration. Edwin released all six of his pokemon into his room.

"As some of you already know, we have just won our sixth badge!" Cries of excitement and delight followed his announcement. "Now, give it up for our three brave warriors, Ajax, Poseidon, and Elric!"

Shira and Revina offered congratulations to the three who had fought in the battle. Ajax flexed his muscles and beat his fists together haughtily, Poseidon croaked in appreciation, and Elric preened with pride. However, Edwin's ninetales, Elena, simply jumped up onto the bed and went to sleep, not caring about the the team's victory. Edwin expected as much from her.

"Our next move will be to travel to Lilycove City and then catch a boat to Sootopolis," Edwin explained. After that, we can face Norman again. And next time, I know we'll win." Shira barked in agreement, and Ajax stomped his feet in anticipation. "For now though, let's just enjoy the night."

Edwin had bought food from the marketplace for his pokemon and himself; roasted tailow, fried magikarp, grilled and seasoned carvanah, fresh tropius bananas, and a variety of tropical drinks were among the dishes he brought. He turned on the television and flipped between a rerun of a tournament match from last year and a soccer game, though mainly he just talked and joked around with his pokemon. Even though he couldn't fully understand them, he still found that communicating with them was sometimes easier than talking with other humans. Edwin walked over to Elric, who was intently watching the soccer match.

"So you're a fan of soccer now?" He asked the bird pokemon jokingly. Elric chirped in reply, indicating that he was in fact enjoying the game. "Nice job today, by the way. Those steel wings were so powerful I could hear the smacks even from where I was standing." Elric fluffed himself up and chirped proudly.

"I can tell you're getting stronger, and you're a lot bigger from when you first evolved. Maybe you can even fly me places now." The pidgeotto looked at him in horror and shook his head vigorously. Edwin laughed. "I know, I know, I was only joking. Maybe after you evolve."

Elric chirped as one of the teams on television scored a goal in stoppage time, ending the stalemate and winning the game. Edwin patted the bird on the back and then headed over to his bed where his ninetales was sleeping. He poked her gingerly, and she stirred awake.

"You mind getting off my bed? I need to sleep too, you know." Elena glared at him but did get off the bed. She stalked over to a corner of the room and curled up again.

"Hey, Poseidon, can you get the lights? I think we should get some rest now," Edwin said. The swampert let out a deep croak and flipped the light switch. It took a few minutes for his pokemon to settle down and find a spot to sleep, but everyone eventually found a place to rest and everything went quiet. Shira was curled up beside Edwin, Poseidon rested on the ground next to his bed, Revina lay down on the desk, Elric was perched on top of the chair by the desk, Ajax was slumped over in a corner of the room, and Elena was curled up in her own corner, farthest away from the others.

As he and his pokemon drifted off to sleep, Edwin once again found his thoughts wandering to Faustina. He had decided to give up his search, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Nevertheless, he shifted his thoughts to those of Lilycove and Sootopolis. Lilycove was a beautiful city, and it would be a welcome stop before he had to go on to his next gym battle. Sootopolis was rumored to be the hardest gym in Hoenn, as it was run by the former Hoenn Champion, Wallace. Even so, Edwin was excited that he was getting closer to being able to enter the Hoenn League. Sleep took hold of Edwin, dreams of victory and greatness shielding his mind from Faustina.

* * *

 _Dex entry #334: altaria_

 _"We heard a beautiful melody, and we stopped to listen. It was amazing: sadness, joy, heartbreak, and hope all wrapped up into one tune. It was so calming that we didn't even set up camp before we drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I found that my two companions were both dead. Something had scratched them up and cooked them with a flame of some sort, and pieces of flesh were torn off their bodies. It was then that I realized we had wandered into an altaria's lair." - Police statement from Verdanturf Town given by an anonymous hiker_

 _Altaria are dragon and flying type pokemon whose feathers and wings closely resemble white cumulus clouds. These pokemon live in the mountain ranges of Hoenn and can rarely be found in the mountains in a few other parts of the world. Altaria are excellent singers, and they sing in a soprano voice that can be both beautiful and deadly. Altaria's song can be used to soothe babies and put even the noisiest children to sleep, but its music can also be used to knock out enemy pokemon and sometimes, under prolonged exposure, kill them. Luckily, altaria tend to leave humans alone and prefer to run away rather than fight. However, if absolutely necessary, altaria will attack and kill hikers and trainers who stray into their territory. Altaria are considered a level three threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	7. Chapter 7

Apollo landed on the jungle soil with a thump, and Alfgar the Wild and Gary Oak dismounted from the orange dragon. It had taken them five days to get from the desert to the secret base, and they stopped frequently to rest. Gary had no pokemon that could fly him long distances, and Alfgar only had Apollo. The charizard had already been tired from all the flying and fighting he had done earlier, and flying two people a great distance did him no favors. For that reason, the three of them had to rest a lot, and they also had to avoid any towns or cities.

But now they had finally arrived at the secret base, and Alfgar recalled Apollo after thanking him for his services. The charizard merely grunted, too tired to respond. Gary followed Alfgar as the dark-haired man walked over to a section of the cliff and tapped on it in a sort of pattern. Suddenly, a section of the cliff slid open and a short bald man emerged and greeted Alfgar.

"Alfgar! We'd thought you died. Who's that?" He asked, noticing Gary.

"That's Gary Oak," Alfgar replied, "he's here to help us."

The man nodded. "Oak. I know the name. Where's Johnny?"

"I'll explain in a minute. For now, gather everyone up. I have some announcements to make," Alfgar said as he strode into the base.

"Everyone's here," the short man replied. "Except Sven the Tribesman and Stoke the Viper. They're out scouting."

Alfgar nodded. "We'll fill them in later," he said as he made his way to the front of the room. As the rest of the Brothers noticed him, they stopped talking and looked. Gary leaned on a wall to the right of him. For once, Alfgar did not need to shout to get the men's attention.

"As you can see, I'm back," Alfgar started, "and I have this." He pulled out the Red Orb, and some of the Brothers started cheering.

"Where's Johnny?" Someone shouted.

"Johnny's dead." Alfgar's news elicited a chorus of curses and yells. Johnny had been the type of man who made friends with everyone, and he was well-liked by all of the Brothers. "We met a couple of Unovan agents. We had no idea they would be there."

"Why the hell is Unova sending agents after us? We're on their side, for the most part," the short man said.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't think that they were after us at all. They were probably sent to recover the Orbs, and we got in their way."

A series of taps was then heard coming from outside the base, and the short man moved to open the door. Two men strolled into the base. One was a tall man with light skin and blond hair. He was shirtless and had body paint arranged in strange markings on his face and chest. The other man was muscular and bearded, and he wore a black bandana. He had cold gray eyes and wore the standard black combat shirt, vest, pants, and boots that most of the other Brothers wore.

Alfgar nodded towards them. "Sven, Stoke."

"I see you've returned to us, commander," the blond-haired man known as Sven said in his lazy drawl. "You wouldn't believe what we saw on TV," he continued, this time addressing the other men.

Stoke the Viper had the carcass of a sawsbuck slung over his back, and he threw the dead pokemon onto the large table in the middle of the base. A large, gray rhydon appeared behind him, and it carried the bodies of another sawsbuck and a small tropius. Sven also brought a few plastic bags with him, and he tossed them onto the table beside the sawsbuck. One job of the scouts was to bring back food for the base, and the other job was to learn as much as possible about current events and the happenings regarding the inevitable war.

"Stern's Shipyard had been attacked, as we planned," Sven said, looking at Alfgar, "but we also heard mention of some Unovan agents. They're saying that war could break out any minute now."

"I know, I've already told them about this," Alfgar said, slightly irritated that the two had interrupted him. "Is that all?"

"No. We also heard that Uldin Firelance has been killed, and that the authorities are looking for a tall suspect with black hair and dark eyes."

Alfgar smirked at that. "Really? That's the best description they could come up with? That could be anybody."

"I'm surprised you killed Uldin Firelance, commander," Sven said with an amused smile. "I don't remember that being part of your mission."

"Uldin Firelance had to die. He almost discovered the Red Orb," Alfgar said to the entire group. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is our next step. We're going after Rayquaza." This caused the group to begin murmuring again, but they stopped once Gary started talking.

"We need Rayquaza. Sure, we have the Red Orb, but Groudon's location is heavily guarded by the government, even more so now that they know we have the Red Orb. Rayquaza's location is not, and if we have him, getting the others will be so much easier."

"Who the fuck are you?" Someone shouted.

Gary looked annoyed and frowned. "I'm Gary motherfucking Oak, you idiot. Ever heard the name?"

"Go suck a dick!" Someone else shouted, and laughter erupted. Alfgar stepped in to stop things from getting worse.

"Gary's right. We need Rayquaza, and we need men to help us. Who's willing?" The men began yelling in anticipation.

"Don't take too many. We don't want to attract attention to ourselves, and I bet half of these chumps won't even last a second against Rayquaza," Gary said, a cocky grin splayed on his face. Some of the Brothers bristled and yelled curses at that, but none dared to actually challenge Gary. The silver pokeballs that gleamed at his belt acted as a deterrent to anyone foolish enough to oppose him.

Alfgar thought for a second. _Who would be useful against an enormous and extremely powerful dragon God?_ "Ogdun and Spencer, we could use your help."

Ogdun nodded. Ogdun was a large, burly man from Icirrus City who had a pair of beartics that could be useful against Rayquaza, who had a severe weakness to ice attacks. Ogdun had snow white hair and a clean-shaven face, but his gray eyes and jaw were as hard as ice. He was a quiet man who seldom spoke.

Spencer was a tall, brown-haired man with tan skin and matching brown eyes. He was strikingly handsome, and he had attended the same intermediate school and trainer academy as Alfgar, though the two had never even spoken to each other before Operation Iridescent. Spencer had only one pokemon, but that one pokemon was a large and powerful gyarados. Alfgar figured that a gyarados would definitely be helpful against Rayquaza.

"When do we leave?" Spencer asked.

"As soon as possible. Hoenn is really beginning to go for the legendaries, especially now that the war is imminent," Gary replied.

Alfgar nodded in agreement. "We won't need disguises this time since we're only going to Lilycove and then the Sky Pillar, and we aren't doing anything illegal or sneaking about. Lock, you're in charge again."

"... Wha...? Oh. Yes, sure thing." The old soldier had clearly been asleep, and Alfgar wondered if he had even heard anything that he just said.

Alfgar went and changed back into his black military clothes and then gathered up some supplies into a small pack. After eating lunch with the Brothers, Alfgar, Gary, Spencer, and Ogdun were off.

* * *

Edwin emerged from the tall jungle grass and found himself in a clearing atop a hill. From the hill, Edwin could see Lilycove City only about a mile or two away. Shira was at his side and she barked as she noticed the large city.

"Finally. I'm sick and tired of the jungle." Shira barked in agreement. Edwin smiled. "Race you!" He bounded off and sprinted down the hill, and the mightyena followed closely behind.

Eventually the two reached the outskirts of the city, both of them panting and sweating profusely. Shira had beat him to the city, but only barely. She was still recovering from her rib injuries that she suffered at the Petalburg gym.

"Well, here we are," Edwin panted. Trainer and pokemon walked into the city together.

Lilycove was a beautiful city, but the day was cloudy and the sun only managed to poke a few of its golden fingers out from between the clouds. The smell of the sea was strong, and a light breeze drifted through the city. Lilycove was right next to the ocean, as so many of Hoenn's important cities were.

Lilycove was much more of a traditional city than Fortree, as it had tall, gleaming skyscrapers and other regular buildings and houses. Even though Lilycove was large, it was still calm and relatively quiet. There were only a few roads in the city, and large patches and parks of green grass were common. People preferred to walk and take in the seaside atmosphere rather than travel in a car, so the streets were not very busy either. Lilycove had a long shoreline, and Edwin could see many people and pokemon relaxing on the beach, even on a cloudy day.

The tallest building in the city was the Lilycove Department Store, the largest mall in Hoenn. People from all over the region came to Lilycove to shop there, and one could find almost anything in one of the many stores the building housed. Though Edwin wanted to visit, he knew that he should go to a pokemon center first and check in. His pokemon were mostly healthy, but he still decided to reserve a room.

The Lilycove pokemon center was larger than Fortree's, but otherwise it was exactly the same. However, as Edwin made a reservation for a room, he noticed two people sitting at a table.

Seated at one of the center's tables was Faustina, and she was talking to none other than the Indigo Champion. Edwin hesitated, and wondered whether he should even bother to approach them. Now that he had seen that Faustina was not dead or injured, he knew that she had decided to abandon him. Also, he felt intimidated by the presence of Red, the Champion of Kanto and Johto.

Shira growled besides him, and Edwin knew that he had to confront them. Even if Faustina had decided that she didn't want to travel with him anymore, he had to know the reason why. As Edwin walked towards the table, Faustina turned her head and looked at him with her alluring violet eyes.

"Edwin? I was wondering when I'd see you here."

Edwin stood there for a moment, confused. "... What?" He said stupidly.

"I ran into some trouble back at Petalburg. I figured that you would go to Fortree and win the badge from there and then come here, so I've been waiting in Lilycove. It took you longer than I would have guessed, though." It was then that Edwin noticed that Faustina had a slight bruise under one of her violet eyes, and that she had a cut next to her lips.

"Oh," he said, unable to fully process everything. "Why didn't you respond to my messages?"

She looked at him in a confused manner for a second, then said, "On my phone? I'm afraid I lost it back at Petalburg. It completely slipped my mind that I should replace it."

"Oh," Edwin said again, relief flooding through him. "I should go. I didn't mean to intrude," he finished, glancing at Red. The Indigo Champion said nothing and just looked at him with his peculiar red eyes.

"Oh, you weren't interrupting anything. Please, sit," Faustina said gesturing to one of the empty chairs at the table. Edwin sat down, still unsure whether he should be here. He glanced at Red again, but the Champion still said nothing.

"Edwin, this is Red," Faustina introduced.

"I know. The Indigo League Champion, right?"

Red smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you." His voice was quiet but strong.

"Red is here to for a conference," Faustina explained. "Apparently some Unovan spies attacked Slateport, and now Hoenn is itching for war. There are representatives here in Lilycove from four different regions, and Red is representing Kanto and Johto."

Red nodded. "I'm not looking forward to it."

"How do you two know each other?" Edwin asked as Shira walked over to Red and began sniffing him. The Indigo Champion leaned down and petted the mightyena with a smile.

"Red helped me back in Petalburg," Faustina said. "And now I'm helping him with the conference. We're trying to prevent war from breaking out, but we've got our work cut out for us."

"I see... So when is this conference?"

"Tomorrow. I have a feeling that it's going to be filled with warhawks and nationalists, so Red's going to need to do a really good job convincing them that war isn't the only option."

"Easier said than done," said Red. Shira was curled up on the ground between Edwin and Red, and it appeared that she had taken a liking to the Indigo Champion. "I should be going now, though. I've got statements to prepare." Red got up and stretched, and Shira lifted her head as the Champion leaned down to pet her. Faustina stood up as well, and Edwin followed her lead.

There was something Edwin was curious about, though. "Do you get recognized a lot? I mean, I expected you to be crowded with fans or accompanied by security, since you are the head of two entire regions."

Red smiled again, though this time it had a tint of sadness to it. "Nobody seems to remember who I am. Though I suppose my time meditating on Mount Silver had a lot to do with that."

Edwin had heard about how after Red had won the championship, he had gone up to Mount Silver for a long time, not seeing or talking to anyone except his pokemon.

"And for security, I've got these," Red said as he pointed to the five golden pokeballs on his belt. "But I really must be going. I'll see you after the conference, Faustina, and it was nice to meet you, Edwin."

After Red walked off, Edwin was still in a state of semi-confusion. So much had happened in a matter of minutes: he had found Faustina, met a Gold Champion, and learned that war was probably going to break out at any moment.

"So, are you off to Sootopolis now?" Faustina asked him, snapping him out of his shock.

"I guess," he said. "What about you?"

"I'm going to wait until after Red finishes with the conference, and then I'll decide what to do from there. You could stay too, you know. Lilycove is an amazing city, and Sootopolis won't be going anywhere."

Edwin nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"We should probably go to the Department Store. Since you reminded me, I do need a new phone."

The two of them set off for the famous Lilycove Department Store, and Edwin told Faustina about his gym battle with Winona on the way there. He also released the newly-evolved Poseidon, and the swampert croaked proudly when Edwin told Faustina how Poseidon had withstood the altaria's dragon breath for so long. The city was quiet and relatively empty. It had started to rain, so most of the people had gone indoors.

The Department Store was located towards the back of the city. Lilycove was sandwiched between the sea and a great cliff, and the Department Store was built right up alongside the bluff. As the two trainers and Edwin's two pokemon neared the store, Edwin noticed a strange-looking gray structure atop a green hill less than a mile away from the building.

"What's that?"

Faustina turned to follow where Edwin was pointing. "Hmm... It looks like some sort of ancient building, a place of worship, maybe. Let's go have a look."

Edwin had no choice but to follow her. Faustina had a tendency to do whatever she pleased, and Edwin knew that she wasn't a fan of shopping. He probably shouldn't have distracted her by pointing out the strange structure, but he was slightly curious about it himself.

As the group climbed up the hill and towards the structure, Edwin noticed that it did indeed seem to be some ancient place of worship. The structure was made of stone and had a wooden door, and it had large holes in its roof. The front of the stone structure had a strange shape carved into it, a rune that slightly resembled the letter "A."

"Looks to be a Seafarer's church," Faustina said, her violet eyes dazzling in wonder.

Edwin had heard of the Seafarers and the Earth Children in history class. Thousands of years ago, before modern settlers arrived in Hoenn, the region was home to two enemy clans: the Seafarers and the Earth Children. The Earth Children lived in the jungles and deserts of Hoenn and were olive-skinned and dark of hair and eye. Seafarers lived near the coasts and had fair hair and eyes.

The two clans were constantly in conflict over the region, but both were mostly either wiped out or assimilated when the modern settlers arrived. The Earth Children worshipped Groudon and the Seafarers worshipped Kyogre, and only a few years ago, Team Magma and Team Aqua had revived this old conflict in their quest to control Hoenn. The criminal organizations had even taken the respective symbols of the two ancient clans as their emblems.

"We should go in," Faustina suggested as she traced her hand over the symbol etched into the stone wall.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Edwin replied. "Are we even allowed to be here? It looks like this place is deserted."

"Even better, we have the place to ourselves," she said as she pushed open the wooden door.

The interior of the building was made entirely of stone, and there were stone slabs carved out as benches. The benches faced towards the front of the room where there was a damaged stone pulpit and a chipped statue of Kyogre.

However, what caught Edwin's attention the most was the man and giant orange dragon standing in front of the pulpit.

The man was muscular and was dressed in all black, which matched with his wild black hair. He had deep brown eyes and had tan skin. He had been saying something to the charizard but had stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the group walk in. The charizard growled, and two tendrils of gray smoke slithered out of its nostrils. The man stood frozen, staring at Edwin and Faustina. Faustina finally broke the silence.

"... Alfgar?"

The man stepped back, his eyes filled with apprehension. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.

Faustina stood silent for a second, her purple eyes swirling with emotions. "I came here to look for you. Where have you been? And what the hell have you been doing?"

"It would take too long to explain my purposes to you, and you probably wouldn't believe me anyway. Who's the kid, and why'd you bring him here? Now I'm going to have to kill him."

Shira growled at that, and Poseidon reared to his full height. The charizard took that for a challenge and flapped its wings fiercely.

"No," Faustina said, stepping in front of Edwin protectively. "He doesn't know anything."

Alfgar looked annoyed. "You didn't need to come looking for me. I'm on an important mission, though I'm no longer working for anyone. I'm in Arceus' service now."

Faustina looked at him incredulously. "Arceus? What?"

"When we left on that mission, we all had a vision. We all dreamt that Arceus had spoken to us and told us to gather the legendaries to stop the world from destroying itself in the war."

"War? What war? And what vision are you talking about? Sometimes strong psychics can enter people's dreams. That would also explain while you're acting so strangely."

Alfgar frowned, and his charizard looked ready to attack at any moment. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. But that doesn't matter. I'm doing this for the good of the world, and I don't expect you to understand. I'll see you again, Faustina, hopefully soon. After all this is over." With that, Alfgar leapt atop his charizard and flew away through one of the holes in the ceiling.

Edwin stood in silence, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. His pokemon, however, looked relieved that the charizard was gone. _Was that the man Faustina had been looking for all this time?_

Faustina seemed to be in shock as well, and she only snapped out of it after Edwin asked her if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she said, though she had a sullen look on her face and her eyes seemed to be a darker shade of purple than they normally were. "That was who I've been looking for."

"Who is he?" Edwin asked.

"He's a friend," Faustina replied, her expression still grim. "He disappeared a while back."

Edwin was still confused, but he felt like he shouldn't press the issue further. "Are you going after him?"

She shook her head. "He's probably long gone by now, him and his stupid charizard. Damn it, I shouldn't have froze up like that. Next time, I won't let him get away so easily." With that, Faustina turned around and stalked out of the stone church.

Edwin looked at his pokemon, who looked back at him cluelessly.

* * *

As Apollo neared Lilycove's pokemon center, Alfgar reflected upon his unexpected visitor. He had not known that she would even be in the region, let alone in the same city. He wondered how long she had been following him.

Apollo landed in front of the center, and Alfgar leapt off the charizard.

 _"I do not like running away from our opponents,"_ Apollo growled, smoke drifting from his nostrils. _"If you order me to flee again, I will roast you where you stand."_

Alfgar returned the charizard without responding; he had no time for this right now. _And once you face Rayquaza, you'll wish that you could run away._

Alfgar speed walked into the center and up to his room, only refraining from sprinting to avoid looking suspicious. He burst open the door to his room and found all three of his partners lazing around.

"We've been discovered," he said urgently. "Get your things. We need to leave."

"What are you talking about? Discovered by who?" Gary asked.

"Doesn't matter. All that matters is that we get out of here, and that we leave as soon as possible. Gary, you'll come with me. Spencer, you and Ogdun will fly on your gyarados."

"Are you insane? I can't release Khnum in the middle of the city. We'll definitely draw some looks if a giant gyarados appears out of nowhere," Spencer complained.

"So? We've already been discovered, it doesn't matter. Now hurry up," Alfgar said as he ran down the stairs and out of the pokemon center. He released Apollo, and luckily the charizard didn't complain about his abrupt return to his pokeball earlier.

Alfgar jumped on top of the charizard and waited impatiently as Gary and the others followed closely behind. As soon as Gary was seated behind him, Alfgar told Apollo to take off. After a few moments, he looked back and saw a long, blue, serpentine pokemon cutting through the air, indicating that Spencer was following. Alfgar had already talked to Apollo about the plan, so he didn't need to direct the charizard. The Sky Pillar was faintly visible in the distance, a gray finger jutting out of the serene blue waters.

Apollo landed at the foot of Sky Pillar, as Gary had doubted that the charizard could fly all the way to the top carrying two people. As Alfgar and Gary dismounted onto the slab of land that served as the base for Sky Pillar, the two looked up and saw that the structure reached all the way to the clouds. Commercial planes were forbidden to fly around this area, and the few that did encroach upon Rayquaza's territory were destroyed and sent tumbling into the ocean.

A few seconds later, Spencer and Ogdun arrived. Spencer recalled his gyarados and walked over to Alfgar and Gary.

"Charming place," he muttered as he too craned his neck to look up at the Sky Pillar.

Alfgar started towards the entrance and stopped when he noticed a small sign just outside the opening. Sky Pillar was open to trainers, but it was strongly discouraged that anyone actually go inside. The sign outside the entrance supported that, as it was a warning describing how many trainers were killed trying to explore the ancient tower.

"Scared?" Gary walked up to Alfgar and peered inside the entrance.

"No. Are you?"

Gary smirked. "Of course not. We're more than prepared for this, and most of the pokemon in here will probably stay out of our way once they sense how powerful we are."

Alfgar sighed. Gary Oak was the cockiest and most arrogant person he had ever met. "Let's just get this over with."

The group walked inside the tower. Sky Pillar had fifty floors, and each one had a few windows carved into the walls so that some light shined through. Despite this, darkness still covered most of the room. Each floor was wide, but rocks and other debris were strewn about, making it difficult to navigate.

Alfgar thought he saw something moving about in the darkness, but nothing had attacked them yet. The ascent to the top would take a while, but the group had brought adequate supplies to last them the journey. Alfgar just hoped that he wouldn't get tired of climbing the endless staircases they were sure to encounter.

"We're going to have to climb all the way to the top of this fucking tower, aren't we?" Spencer whined, mirroring Alfgar's own thoughts.

"No, we'll just teleport to the top," Gary replied, sarcasm lacing his voice. "Let's get moving."

The staircase to the next floor was on the right side of the room, but as they climbed the stairs and reached the second floor they saw that the next staircase was on the right side, meaning that each time they got to a new floor they would have to cross the length of the room just to reach the next staircase.

As the group picked its way through then fallen rocks and other material, a pair of golbat came rushing at them. Gary released an umbreon and Alfgar sent out his luxray to fight the monster bats. Both umbreon and luxray could see clearly in dark environments, so they were perfect for fighting the golbats.

Spencer's gyarados and Ogdun's beartic wouldn't be very effective in the interior of Sky Pillar, so the two of them stood back as Luce and Gary's umbreon made short work of the golbat. The group continued on, and the umbreon's rings glowed brightly in the darkness.

"So, you guys actually think we can capture Rayquaza? I mean, he is known as the Sky God for a reason," Spencer said.

"Of course we can," Gary declared, his voice filled with arrogance. "I'm a Silver Champion, after all. With you three acting as my support, there's no way we can lose." With that, Gary walked ahead with his umbreon.

Spencer turned to Alfgar. "Is this guy as powerful as he says he is or is he just a cocky prick?"

"He's no doubt a cocky prick, but there's some truth to what he said. He is a Silver Champion, and he's one of the strongest trainers in both Kanto and Johto."

"Stronger than Rayquaza?"

Alfgar shrugged. "I don't know just how powerful Rayquaza is, but we'll find out soon enough." Alfgar watched as Luce's eyes flashed and he pounced at something in the darkness, knocking a golbat out of the air before it had even reached the group.

"It's about time Khnum got an opponent that would actually challenge him," Spencer said, smirking.

"You're starting to sound like Gary now. Don't get too cocky."

"Sure thing, commander." Spencer saluted him with a mocking smile and walked back towards Ogdun.

Now that Alfgar thought about it, Spencer and Gary were actually pretty similar. Both were overconfident, arrogant, and cared little about others. Spencer had slightly improved since Operation Iridescent, but he could still be pain in the ass if he wanted to.

Two or three hours had passed, and Alfgar had lost count of how many floors they had ascended. His legs were beginning to get weary, but since no one else was complaining he kept his thoughts to himself.

Suddenly, as the group was crossing one of the floors, a pair of red eyes appeared in the darkness. Luce began growling but made no move to attack the thing. Soon enough, the creature emerged from the darkness. It was large and made of some sort of bluish-gray metal, and it had a silver 'X' covering its face. It had four thick legs that branched out from its head, making it look like some sort of metal spider.

Gary turned and pulled out another pokeball. "Watch out, it's a metagross!"

 _"Hello,"_ the metagross said through its telepathy. _"And thank you for that astute observation, sir."_

* * *

 _Dex entry #130: gyarados_

 _"If you really want a gyarados, your only course of action is to catch a strong magikarp and spend an extreme amount of time and effort training it, hoping that it has the ability to evolve into a gyarados. Under no circumstances should you go out into the sea and hunt for gyarados. I repeat, do NOT go out looking for wild gyarados." - Excerpt from_ A Guide to Pokemon: Kanto Edition _by Professor Samuel Oak_

 _Gyarados are fearsome sea dragons that can potentially be found in oceans and seas across the world. Despite their wide range, gyarados are still very rare, as only the top one percent of magikarp even have the ability to evolve into a gyarados. The rarity of gyarados is a blessing to coastal villages and towns, as these pokemon have been known to completely destroy small settlements close to the water for no reason at all. Gyarados can also fly, though they luckily choose to remain in the water and seldom stray too far from the ocean. Gyarados are also capable of causing powerful waterspouts, and there have been cases of large battlecruisers being obliterated by a single gyarados. Even so, gyarados are revered as sacred in China, and elaborate festivals are held annually to commemorate them. Gyarados are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	8. Chapter 8

"There has to be some other way to solve this. Edgar, can't your country send over some money or some artifacts as an apology?"

Edgar clenched his fists and grit his teeth. His balding head turned a shade of red, and he spat out his reply. "No, Red. Not to these cretins." He then got to his feet and began shouting, pointing at a tan, wrinkly old man sitting across the table. "He is representative of his whole region, and a region of savages and uncivilized idiots at that! He's been insulting me and Unova this whole time, and now you want me to give him gifts as a reward?"

The accused man got to his feet as well, and under his droopy eyelids his green eyes flashed dangerously. "You're going to shout at _us_ for insulting _you_? Your damn country sent over spies to steal our Orbs, for Arceus' sake!"

Red sighed. The conference was not going well at all, and the Unovan and Hoennese representatives had been at each other's throats the whole time. The two clearly disliked each other, and everything Red said only seemed to make the mood worse.

As the two old men continued to shout at each other, Red glanced over at the fourth representative in the room. She was a short blonde girl from Kalos, and Red guessed that she was no more than twenty years old. She fidgeted nervously in her seat, unwilling to get involved in the heated argument that was only getting worse by the second. That left the mediation of the conference squarely in Red's hands, and was doing a terrible job of ensuring that things stayed calm.

"Will you two stop? If we don't come to an agreement, we'll have another war on our hands." Though not very loud, Red's voice had a certain quality to it that gave it a sort of strength. When he spoke, the two arguing representatives ceased their yelling and looked at him.

Jeb, the representative from Hoenn, spoke first. "We never wanted war, but when Unova sends over spies to attack us, what are we to do? They have left us no other option."

Edgar seethed at that. "It was retaliation for everything Hoenn has done to us over the years. You've set high and unfair tariffs on Unovan goods, you've refused to let our military cross through your waters even in peacetime, you've voted against us on every major issue in the United Nations... I could go on, but then we'd be here forever!"

Red interrupted before Jeb could form a reply. "That's true, but Hoenn has never actually done anything blatantly illegal against Unova. No matter what Hoenn may have done over the years, Unova is at fault here."

Jeb smirked. "See? Everyone with common sense knows who is at fault here. Just admit you're wrong, Edgar, and save you and your region some embarrassment."

"You cannot be serious. Red, Hoenn has conducted many harmful covert operations on Unovan soil in the past."

 _Probably,_ Red thought, _but they've never been caught. You get caught, you pay the price._ Just as Red was about to put his thoughts into more gentler words, Jeb spoke again.

"Maybe so, but we've never been caught before, and you can't prove anything." He smirked again. "We're not stupid enough to leave behind evidence. Unovans, on the other hand..."

That was the last straw, and everyone in the room knew it. Edgar tossed a pokeball into the air and a large krookodile appeared. It snapped its jaws with a loud crack and growled, and soon enough everyone was releasing pokemon.

Jeb had sent out a sceptile and Red sent out his poliwrath and his espeon. He didn't see the girl from Kalos anywhere.

The krookodile charged the sceptile, who dodged the attack nimbly. Edgar and Jeb both had more pokeballs in their hands, and Red knew he had to act quickly.

"Vee, deal with the sceptile! Poli, take out that krookodile!"

The poliwrath leapt at the krookodile and sent it to the ground with a powerful punch. As the lizard struggled to get up, Poli blasted it in the face with a stream of compact bubbles. As Poli moved away from his now-unconscious opponent, he was hit with a hyper beam attack that sent him crashing through the wall. Red turned and saw that Edgar had sent out a chandelure and a scrafty.

Vee had more or less incapacitated the sceptile, crippling its speed with his psychic abilities and then peppering it with long-range attacks. However, Jeb had also released more pokemon, and Vee struggled to avoid the banette and mightyena that chased after him.

Red released Pika, his pikachu, and ordered him to try and paralyze the representative's pokemon. Even as Red's pokemon attempted to stop the fighting, the battle only continued to get more intense. More pokemon were released, and Red found it hard to concentrate amidst the chaos.

Suddenly, Red heard a loud bang and took cover behind a chair as he simultaneously reached for a pokeball. Red peeked out from behind the chair and saw the representative from Kalos holding a smoking gun in her hand, a burly pangoro standing next to her menacingly. He turned and saw the Unovan representative fall to the ground, a bullet hole in his back. As he looked back at the girl in shock, he noticed that the barrel of the gun was now pointed directly at him.

Before the girl could fire, Pika leapt at her, a yellow, electric blur which knocked her to the ground.

"Poli! Get that pangoro!" Red decided that the girl was the main threat at the moment, now that Edgar's pokemon were leaderless. The poliwrath engaged the pangoro, both of them circling around each other and looking for an opening. Pika seemed to be doing just fine with the Kalosian representative, and the girl was subjected to a fury of electrical shocks. Red had resolved to try and keep it as bloodless as possible when the conflict started, but now that someone was dead, he didn't care anymore.

"Make sure she can't release another pokemon, Pika!"

Meanwhile, Poli continued to battle the pangoro. The poliwrath had the upper hand, and though he was smaller, he was landing a lot more punches than the pangoro was. Suddenly, Edgar's scrafty joined the fight and blindsided the pangoro, jumping on top of it and bashing its skull with its fists. The pangoro went down, but the scrafty continued to pound the bear's head, its fists coated in red from the pangoro's blood.

Red looked around and saw that Jeb and his pokemon were gone, leaving Edgar's trainer-less pokemon in the conference room. A few seconds later, a group of Hoennese soldiers came running into the room with their guns and their pokemon. Before Red could say anything, Edgar's pokemon began attacking the soldiers.

Red returned his own pokemon so that they would not be caught in the crossfire and hid under the table. He glanced out and saw a braviary tear apart a soldier, his entrails spilling out of his body as the bird punctured him with its deadly talons. He also saw a pack of three mightyena swarm the chandelure, easily tearing the ghost apart despite their singed pelts.

Red was shocked by the unnecessary violence, but there was nothing he could do. The soldiers were more likely to shoot him and his pokemon than listen to him, and Edgar's pokemon were confused and angry and definitely would not calm down. Red flinched as he saw a scyther decapitate the scrafty, and the gunfire grew more intense as a liepard pounced at the group of soldiers.

After a few more minutes of gunfire, growling, and screaming, everything went quiet. The remainder of the Unovan representative's pokemon had been neutralized, and three soldiers lay dead. As the soldiers began moving about the room, Red emerged from his hiding spot.

"Don't shoot! I'm coming out." Red slowly slid out from under the table and stood up. The room was covered in blood and gore, and the smell of gunpowder hung heavily in the air.

The soldiers fixed their rifles at him and the mightyena growled. "Hands up!"

Red put his hands up, and the soldiers surrounded him and escorted him out of the room. As he was walking, all he could think about was how badly he had failed. There was no going back, and he knew what lay ahead now.

* * *

 _"I do not understand why you are causing such an uproar. I have made no threatening movements towards you, and I have been nothing but cordial, yet you still seem intent on attacking me."_

"Metagross are territorial creatures," Gary spat back, one hand still tightly clenched around a pokeball. "They are known to kill anyone who encroaches upon their territory."

 _"Yet I have not attacked you, nor do I have any intention of doing so."_

"Yeah, because you know you can't beat us. You're waiting for us to drop our guard and then you'll strike."

Alfgar sighed. "Gary, I don't think it's going to attack us. Can we at least listen to what it has to say?"

The metagross' red eyes turned to look at Alfgar. _"Thank you. Now, if I may, I have a proposal I would like to set out before you gentlemen. I know what your objective is, and I would like to help you accomplish it."_

"How do you know what we're here to do?" Spencer asked.

 _"All high-level trainers come to Sky Pillar for the same reason: to catch Rayquaza. Even though I can tell you are all capable trainers, I still believe you could benefit from my assistance."_

"And what do you want in return?" Alfgar inquired.

 _"Nothing. I would just like to see that Rayquaza is beaten and that he learns his place. I have a long-standing grudge against him, for reasons that I would prefer not to discuss at the moment."_

Alfgar considered the offer. One on hand, it seemed too good to be true. Why would a metagross randomly offer its help? On the other hand, the metagross did seem to be powerful and it could be useful against Rayquaza. Even though Gary had assured him numerous times that they could defeat Rayquaza, Alfgar still had his doubts.

"Ha! You want nothing in return? You expect me to believe that?" Gary turned to Alfgar. "This metagross is definitely up to something."

 _"Up to what, if I may ask? I do not want you dead, or else I would have attacked while your backs were turned and I was still hidden in the darkness. All I want is to help you defeat Rayquaza. The last group that came through here refused my offer, and they ended up dead."_

"Right. You probably killed them," Gary accused.

"I say we let it come," Alfgar said. The metagross' speech capabilities were far too advanced if it had just sat in Sky Pillar and killed travelers all its life, and Alfgar had a feeling that Rayquaza would be extremely difficult to defeat. He figured that the group could definitely use the metagross' help.

The metagross looked at Alfgar, but it was hard to read its expression. _"You will not regret this decision. I am sure that I will be of use."_

Gary scowled, but conceded. "Fine. But if he kills any of us, the blood is on your hands."

Alfgar didn't mind that much; his hands were practically stained red because of all the killing he had done. "Do you have a name?" He asked.

 _"Yes, but not one you humans would understand. It is a series of telepathic signals and cues that - "_

"I think 'Steelshanks' would be a good name for you," Gary interrupted.

Spencer grinned. "'Steelshanks.' I like it."

 _"Fine. Now, if we are done here, we should keep moving. There are many creatures lurking in the shadows that I would prefer to avoid."_ With that, Steelshanks lifted his legs to his head and started levitating he slowly moved through the air to keep pace with the rest of the group.

The group continued upwards for a few more hours, and the journey was dreary and tiring. Alfgar had asked Steelshanks about his past, but the metagross gave vague answers and did not reveal much. However, Alfgar did learn that Steelshanks used to have a trainer, but he would not say what had happened to his trainer or why he left him.

Eventually the group reached the final floor, and light seeped in from above the staircase across the room.

"How do we even know Rayquaza's up there?" Spencer asked. "I doubt he just sits there and waits for trainers to come by."

 _"On the contrary. That is exactly what he does. Rayquaza always knows when a trainer has entered the Sky Pillar, and each time he waits for them to ascend the tower. Unless they have been killed on the way up, these travelers reach the top and find Rayquaza waiting for them. Rayquaza enjoys toying with and killing trainers and their pokemon, and he views them as a form of amusement. I am confident that we will find him waiting there."_

The group had finally reached the staircase, and they looked at each other nervously before Gary began climbing upwards. The rest of the group followed, and soon enough everyone had reached the top of Sky Pillar.

Alfgar was amazed at how high up they were. The wind was strong here, and the blue sea stretched on in all directions. The shoreline of Lilycove was faintly visible in the distance. The roof itself was large and spacious, though a few blocks of stone and rubble jutted out from the ground. The roof of Sky Pillar was home to the ruins of an ancient temple, and the remains littered the ground.

Rayquaza hovered over the semi-destroyed altar of the temple towards the back of the roof. The Sky God was huge, and even when partially coiled up Alfgar could tell that Rayquaza was enormous. The legendary leered at the group with his disturbing yellow-black eyes, and his red mouth showcased his sharp and dangerous teeth.

 _"I knew you would come. I have been waiting."_ Rayquaza spoke through telepathy as well, though where Steelshanks' voice was masculine and sophisticated Rayquaza's was harsh and grating. The dragon legendary let out a screech that seemed to be some form of laughter.

"Release your pokemon, all of them. We're going to need them," Gary said.

Along with his umbreon, Gary sent out a golduck, a scizor, a porygon-z, a machamp, and a ninetales. Ogden released his two beartic, and Spencer sent out his gyarados who roared upon being released. Alfgar already had his luxray out, but he quickly released his kecleon, charizard, glaceon, arbok, and tyrantrum to take their places beside Luce and Steelshanks.

Rayquaza laughed again. _"I count twenty: sixteen pokemon and four humans. Now this does not seem very fair now, does it?"_

Gary smirked. "We brought extra, just in case. You're supposed to be a god, and you're already feeling nervous?"

 _"Oh, you mistake me, fool. I meant it was unfair for you. Twenty is not nearly enough."_ With that, Rayquaza took to the air and began circling around the group.

"Remember the plan!" Alfgar shouted. "Get into position!"

Apollo and Spencer's gyarados, Khnum, launched themselves into the air. The two flying types had the task of making sure that Rayquaza would not have air superiority. Though Rayquaza was revered as the Sky God, a charizard and a Gyarados are fearsome opponents for any pokemon, and Alfgar hoped that they would be enough to ensure that Rayquaza did not have free reign over the skies.

Ogdun's beartic split up, one standing on the right side of the battlefield and the other on the left. If Rayquaza ever decided to swoop low to attack, the beartic would have a good chance of hitting the dragon with an ice-type move.

Gary's porygon-z and ninetales and Alfgar's glaceon would stay near the trainers and would attack Rayquaza through long-range attacks. Gary's ninetales would annoy Rayquaza with fire attacks while his porygon-z launched high-powered hyper beams at the green dragon. Alfgar's glaceon, Evenfall, would be the heaviest hitter, as her ice beams would be vital in weakening Rayquaza.

The rest of Gary's and Alfgar's pokemon would be commanded by their respective trainers, and they would assault Rayquaza through a mix of long-range and close-range attacks.

Apollo and Khnum seemed to be doing their job well. Rayquaza was being constantly blasted with dragon-type attacks from the gyarados and the charizard, and he screeched in annoyance. Suddenly, the Sky God flipped his massive tail and hit both Apollo and Khnum in one swing. The two pokemon were stunned for a bit but maintained their balance in the air, yet the pause had given the green dragon time to break free.

Rayquaza barreled toward the trainers and pokemon on the ground, screeching all the while. An orange light began to emanate from Rayquaza's mouth, and Alfgar ducked behind a large rocky outcrop as he realized it was a hyper beam. The beam sailed past him and hit Gary's machamp. The muscular pokemon was sent flying, but Gary's quick reactions allowed him to return the fighting-type before it fell to its certain death. _If the hyper beam didn't already kill it,_ Alfgar thought grimly.

The intensity of the attack forced Rayquaza to take a moment of recharge, and that was when the trainers struck. The green dragon was first struck by an intense blast of electricity, and Alfgar glanced over and saw Steelshanks with one of his legs raised, smoke drifting from the steel appendage. He had almost forgot that the metagross was even there.

"Randy, ancient power! Wick, prepare your strongest acid attack! Luce, thunderbolt!" Alfgar called out orders and watched as Rayquaza was bombarded with a series of attacks. One of Ogdun's beartic even bounded over and began slashing and punching the dragon with fists coated in ice, and Gary's pokemon were also on the offensive.

Alfgar had not bothered to give orders to Odin, his tyrantrum, as he knew the dinosaur wouldn't listen anyway. Nevertheless, the rock dragon still rushed Rayquaza and delivered a devastating headbutt followed by a crushing crunch attack. Though Rayquaza was covered in tough scales, Odin's jaws could bite through almost anything.

Rayquaza let out a wail of agony after being hit by so many attacks, but after a few seconds the dragon was ready to fly again. He swept his tail across the ground, sending Odin flying backwards and knocking down a few other pokemon.

One of them was a beartic, and Rayquaza took the opportunity to tear the bear's head off with his massive talons. Then, in a burst of speed that rendered him nothing more than a green blur, Rayquaza bulleted towards Ogdun and sent him flying off Sky Pillar with a sickening crunch.

The remaining beartic, enraged by the sudden loss of his trainer and teammate, rushed towards Rayquaza with fists coated in ice. Rayquaza, however, was much faster, and the dragon let loose an intense stream of fire that charred the beartic and rendered it either dead or knocked out.

Gary's porygon-z took this moment to launch a hyper beam that directly impacted Rayquaza's head, and as the Sky God was reeling from the attack, Evenfall shot an ice beam at Rayquaza and caused the green dragon to shriek in pain. Another burst of electricity hit Rayquaza as well, and the dragon pokemon took flight again and sped away from the scene.

Rayquaza fared no better in the air. Khnum and Apollo were relentless in their pursuit of the legendary, and Rayquaza seemed to be having a hard time avoiding the attacks from the two flyers while simultaneously dodging attacks fired from the pokemon on the ground.

"Looks like we're winning this fight, right?" Alfgar commented to Steelshanks. It seemed as if the sheer numbers of the group were overcoming Rayquaza quite easily.

 _"No. He has not even begun to use his full strength. While we are doing damage to him, he is holding back right now."_ The metagross readied on of his iron legs again and aimed it towards Rayquaza.

Alfgar was confused at what the metagross had said. Rayquaza wasn't even using his full power?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Rayquaza roar, a harsh, high-pitched, metallic noise. Alfgar watched as Rayquaza shot a beam of purple-green fire at Khnum and then slammed into Apollo with an amazing amount of speed. As the charizard began falling, Rayquaza slammed into him again, and again, and again, all from different angles.

Alfgar ran out from behind his rock and reached for the sky, pokeball in hand. He recalled Apollo and sprinted back behind cover. Now only the gyarados remained in the sky to harass Rayquaza.

Before anyone could react, Rayquaza sped across the roof and knocked Gary's scizor off the tower. Gary managed to recall his scizor, and Alfgar saw Odin rush at Rayquaza and attempt to block the Sky God's path.

"Don't do it, Odin! His momentum is too strong!" The tyrantrum did not listen, and, as Alfgar expected, the dinosaur was bowled over by Rayquaza as the green dragon swept across the roof. Luckily, Odin got to his feet again and roared defiantly.

"How the hell is it moving so fast?" Spencer asked.

"Extreme speed," answered Gary. "None of our pokemon can even touch it when it's moving so quickly."

Alfgar didn't need Gary to tell him that. He looked on with dismay as the ice beams, flamethrowers, thunderbolts, and hyper beams all went wide and completely missed the speedy dragon. Khnum desperately tried to keep up with Rayquaza in the air, but he could never get close enough to do any damage.

Rayquaza was suddenly hit with a surge of electricity, causing the dragon to stop momentarily in shock. Alfgar looked over and saw Steelshanks with his metal leg raised, electricity dancing around his white claws that protruded from the end of his appendage.

"How did you do that? He's moving too quickly for anyone to hit him," Alfgar said to the metagross.

 _"It is a combination of lock on and zap cannon. The first move ensures that the second will hit. My zap cannon attack will stop him for a few seconds. Take that time to unleash your attacks."_

Alfgar relayed the message to the pokemon. "Attack Rayquaza after Steelshanks hits him with zap cannon! Distract Rayquaza while Steelshanks locks on! "

 _"Do you fools really think that I cannot hear you?"_ Rayquaza screeched. _"I know your strategy now. I will destroy that metagross before it can attack again!"_

"Alfgar! Get your pokemon to protect Steelshanks! My team will attack Rayquaza," Gary shouted.

Alfgar nodded and gave his pokemon instructions. "Randy and Luce, thunderbolt Rayquaza when it gets close. Wick, spray your acid while he's shocked. Aim for the eyes."

Sure enough, Rayquaza came speeding towards Alfgar and his pokemon. As the dragon neared the group, it opened its mouth and launched a dark blue beam at them even as electricity crackled all around it.

Just as Alfgar felt he would be obliterated by Rayquaza's dragon pulse, Gary's golduck leapt in front of the group and raised its arms, creating a green sphere of protective energy around them. The dragon pulse was absorbed by the protect, but Rayquaza did not lose any momentum and continued to barrel towards the group.

Gary's golduck hit the dragon with a blast of water, but Rayquaza shook it off and slashed the golduck across the torso. Blood flew from the pokemon and painted the ground red, and Gary immediately recalled the blue duck.

Rayquaza pulled up and positioned himself above Alfgar and his pokemon. The dragon built up blue energy within its maw again, but he was blindsided by Spencer's gyarados and was sent reeling. As the two serpentine pokemon tangled together in the air, Gary ran over to Alfgar with his umbreon following closely behind.

Gary arrived at the scene and surveyed Alfgar and his pokemon. "We have ten pokemon left, and three trainers," Gary panted. "And Rayquaza has taken some serious damage. I say we can still win this."

Alfgar nodded. "We need to focus, though. Steelshanks, are you locked on yet?" Rayquaza had blasted Khnum with a hyper beam, and Alfgar saw Spencer recall his gyarados as the water dragon began hurdling towards the ground.

In response, Steelshanks launched another blast of electricity towards Rayquaza. The dragon legendary was hit by the attack and screeched, and his wails only intensified as an ice beam and a hyper beam also crashed into him.

Soon enough, Rayquaza was fully recharged and used a burst of extreme speed to rush the group on the ground. This time, though, Rayquaza avoided Steelshanks and went straight for Alfgar and Gary and their pokemon.

Randy screeched and dove to the side to avoid the oncoming dragon, and Luce leapt away nimbly. Odin attempted to chase Rayquaza, but he was far too slow and he roared in annoyance. Gary's umbreon stood her ground and launched a night shade at the dragon, but Rayquaza sped through it and slammed into Wick, Alfgar's arbok.

The green dragon clutched the purple snake in his claws and flew into the air. He then ripped the arbok in half and threw the cleaved snake into the ocean.

"Damn it," Alfgar cursed. "Rayquaza is picking us off one by one. If he can kill all of Steelshanks' defenders, destroying the metagross himself will be easy."

Steelshanks shot another zap cannon at Rayquaza, but the dragon legendary simply shrieked and took the attack. He then dove in low and rushed the trainers again, but this time, Odin was ready. As Rayquaza sped past him, the tyrantrum clamped his jaws around a segment of Rayquaza's serpentine body and stopped the green dragon in his tracks.

"Now! Attack!" Gary shouted.

Rayquaza was then subject to a whole host of attacks, and the legendary pokemon screeched as it attempted to break free from the tyrantrum's jaws. As the Rayquaza was being bombarded with attacks, it coiled its head around and launched a point-blank hyper beam at Odin. Tyrantrum are heavy pokemon, but Odin nevertheless was launched backwards as he took the Rayquaza's attack from close range.

Alfgar quickly recalled Odin, hoping that the hyper beam hadn't killed him. He had already lost one pokemon, and that was more than enough for one day. Now, however, Rayquaza was free, and the Sky God resumed his onslaught.

This time, Rayquaza sped right past the trainers and their pokemon and headed for Steelshanks. Alfgar and Gary had left the metagross unguarded, as they had assumed that Rayquaza had changed his strategy and was now only going for the humans and their pokemon. Just as Rayquaza was about to smash into the metagross, he was suddenly stopped.

Steelshanks' eyes were glowing an intense shade of pink, and Alfgar figured that the metagross had used a psychic attack to stop Rayquaza.

 _"Finish him now! Put all your force into it!_ The metagross communicated, his telepathic voice strained.

Alfgar and Gary shouted commands, and they could hear Spencer yelling as well from a few yards back where he stood with the three long-range attackers. Ice beam, hyper beam, flamethrower, thunderbolt, and shadow ball were among the attacks that slammed into Rayquaza as Steelshanks restrained him with his psychic skills.

Rayquaza cried out in pain, a long, grating wail which pierced Alfgar's eardrums. The metagross let go of his psychic hold on Rayquaza, and the green dragon collapsed to the ground. However, Rayquaza still had the strength to lift his head up and Alfgar saw fire emerge from the legendary's mouth.

As the flamethrower hit Steelshanks, Alfgar saw that the metagross had also loosed an attack of his own. Steelshanks had fired one last zap cannon, and from such close range he did not need to lock on beforehand.

The blast of electricity was so powerful that the metagross was launched backwards, and the metagross was sent flying off the edge of Sky Pillar. Alfgar reached for a pokeball to recall Steelshanks, but he then remembered that the metagross was not his pokemon. Alfgar could only watch as Steelshanks disappeared off the edge and plunged into the sea below.

"Now's our chance! Do it, Alfgar," came Gary's voice. Alfgar looked over and saw that Rayquaza was slumped on the ground, his eyes closed and his body still. Alfgar pulled out the ultra ball they had purchased beforehand and tossed it at Rayquaza.

The ball shook lightly a few times as it sucked Rayquaza in, but it eventually stopped as the dragon legendary had taken quite the beating. Alfgar knelt to pick up the ball and looked at Spencer, Gary, and the pokemon that weren't knocked out or dead. He saw a all sorts of emotions on their faces, ranging from relief to exhaustion to jubilation.

Gary walked over to Alfgar and patted him on the back. "Told you we could do it."

* * *

 _Dex entry #376: metagross_

 _"It's just amazing how smart they are. I can't figure out why a species of pokemon so intelligent chooses to live in caves and mountains, away from people and all their inventions. Ha ha, maybe they just think they're too smart to be around us idiots." - Interview with Steven Stone, Gold Champion of the Hoenn region_

 _Metagross are rare, solitary pokemon found in caves and mountains throughout Hoenn. These pokemon are said to be as smart as supercomputers, and they are known as some of the most intelligent pokemon in the world. Despite this, metagross can be violent and brutish when other people or pokemon invade their territory. Metagross can cripple their opponents with their intense psychic abilities, but they also possess an extreme amount of strength in their metallic bodies and powerful iron legs. Even though metagross can be territorial and harsh towards humans, they can also be helpful as well. The Mossdeep Space Station is known to employ a few metagross to help them with their calculations, a testament to the intelligence of these pokemon. Metagross are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	9. Chapter 9

Edwin tapped his foot nervously on the floor of Lilycove's pokemon center. His eyes were glued to the television, and Poseidon lazed beside him on the floor. Faustina sat across from him at the table, and her violet eyes glanced up at him.

"Will you stop that?"

Edwin took a breath and stopped his foot from rapping against the tiled floor. "Sorry."

The dark-haired woman sighed. "We all feel the same as you do right now, but we can't let our emotions get the best of us. It's times like this where we need to stay calm." Her mesmerizing purple eyes then shifted away from Edwin and looked past him. Edwin turned his head to follow her gaze and saw Red step back into the center.

Red approached the two trainers and sat down at their table. Edwin and Faustina stared at him expectantly.

"The Unovan and Kalosian representatives are dead, and the Hoenn one is gone. A few Hoennese soldiers were also killed," the champion said.

"We know. It's been all over the news," Faustina replied. "Did anything else happen? The news often leaves certain things out that may be too sensitive."

Red shook his head. "That's the whole of it, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, Faustina, but there's no way we're going to avoid a war now."

Edwin glanced at Poseidon, and the swampert croaked deeply.

"I don't know what we do next," Red said, looking at Poseidon. "We'll have to wait and see."

Edwin was surprised that Red understood Poseidon so perfectly, despite never meeting the swampert before.

"How soon will this all start?" Faustina asked Red.

Red shrugged. "I wish I could tell you something concrete, but I have no clue. All I know is that I need to get back to the Indigo Plateau as soon as possible and start preparing. I want to make sure that Kanto and Johto don't get involved in this."

"What's going to happen here, in Hoenn?" Edwin wanted to know.

"Sorry, but I told you, I don't know much. All I can tell you is that Hoenn and Unova are going to be the main belligerents. I don't know whether Hoenn will invade Unova or if Unova will invade Hoenn, or if anybody will invade at all, but I can say that you guys should get yourself out of the region if you want to avoid war. You can come to Kanto with me, if you want."

Faustina's violet eyes twinkled sadly. "I can't. I have unfinished business here."

Edwin agreed with Faustina. "My family's here, and everyone I know. I've lived my whole life in Hoenn, and I'm not going to leave now. Thanks for the offer, though." Poseidon croaked in agreement.

"Alright. Good luck to you, then," Red said as he got up from the table. He glanced at Faustina, and then at Edwin. "Stay safe."

With that, the Indigo League Champion walked out of the pokemon center, leaving Edwin and Faustina alone together.

Faustina seemed to be in deep thought, but Edwin was couldn't resist asking "What now?"

"I don't know," she said after a moment. "Any ideas?"

Edwin was unsure of what to do. He had never experienced a war before, and he didn't know what would happen. If Hoenn invaded Unova, he expected that he could continue his journey, though he knew that supplies would be scarcer and that his quest would go a lot more slowly. If Unova invaded Hoenn, however, everything would change.

"I guess we could go to Mossdeep," Edwin said. "My parents live there, and I haven't visited home in a while."

Faustina nodded. "Sounds good. I've always wanted to see the famous Mossdeep Space Station. We should leave as soon as possible, so that we don't get held up when the war breaks out in full. I'll go get us tickets for a boat."

As Faustina left the center, Edwin sighed. Poseidon croaked at him, and Edwin smiled. "Yeah, at least we get to go home. I haven't seen Mom and Dad in a while, and they'd be excited to see that you've evolved." Poseidon croaked proudly.

"Still, I can't help but feeling nothing good will come of this war." Poseidon croaked again at that, and Edwin laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, that was unnecessary of me to say. No good ever comes from war."

* * *

The two women walked briskly through Slateport's marketplace and towards the housing developments that rested north of the market.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Aurelia asked. "It's only been a few days since the shipyard incident."

Liviana glared at the red-haired woman with her sharp green eyes. "I told you already, they won't be looking for us. Unova and Hoenn just declared war on each other. The authorities have better things to do than look for a couple of women they only briefly glimpsed."

"Fine," Aurelia replied, "but I still don't think we should be doing this."

"We have to. If we don't get the Dragonslayer, we are going to be severely punished. We got sidetracked when we went chasing after Alfgar, and to make it worse, we attracted so much attention to ourselves that we basically caused the war to start."

The two women eventually arrived in front of a large house. An impressive, well-cut lawn preceded the house, and the house itself was made of mahogany wood.

"So what are we going to do, just walk up and ring the doorbell?"

"Precisely," Livina answered as she started towards the house.

Aurelia reluctantly followed the blonde woman. "What if he recognizes us?"

"So? We're probably going to have to take him by force anyway. I doubt he'll just come with us peacefully."

Liviana hit the button beside the massive wooden doors. She could faintly hear a chiming noise echoing inside the house, indicating that the doorbell had been pressed. Soon enough, she heard footsteps.

A man opened the door, though it was not the man she was expecting. He was tall with black hair and pale skin, and dark stubble covered the lower half of his face. He wore an expensive-looking suit, but Liviana was more worried about the faint outline of a gun she saw under his coat and the four pokeballs that adorned his belt.

"Sorry, we're busy at the moment," the man said. "You'll have to come back later."

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Liviana reached for her belt and pulled out a knife. She jammed the blade into the man's throat and pushed him backwards as blood sprayed onto her face. As the man bled out on the ground, Livina wiped her face with her gloved hand, staining the black fabric with red. She then stepped inside the house.

"He was working for the Hoennese government," Liviana said to Aurelia after noticing the surprised expression on her face. "He wants the Dragonslayer for the same reason we do."

"I guess diplomacy is out of the question now," the red-haired woman remarked as she closed the door and stepped around the dying man. "Shame about this flooring, though. It's actually really nice, but the blood won't do it any fav - hey, wait for me!" Aurelia said as she noticed Liviana leaving the foyer and heading into another room.

The two found the Dragonslayer standing in the middle of a large, spacious room with a pokeball clutched tightly in his hand.

The room was carpeted in some sort of plush, green fabric, and a large painting of a salamence hung on the wall. A few sofas were present in the room, and they were all angled toward the huge flat-screen television and sound system that took up most of the west side of the room.

The Dragonslayer himself was an old man, and he wore a faded brown jacket on top of a plain black t-shirt. He wore black traveling pants and black hiking boots, and on his plain, wrinkled brown belt were five more pokeballs. His face was windburnt and aged, and he had a white mustache and beard. His brown eyes were filled with apprehension and caution.

"Who are you?" His voice was strained and soft, as if his vocal cords were rusting.

"We're from the Unovan government. You need to come with us," Liviana said.

The Dragonslayer only clenched his pokeball tighter.

"Put that away, and we promise we won't hurt you," Aurelia told the old man, though she had begun to reach for a pokeball as well.

"Go to hell." The old man chucked his pokeball into the air and released a blue dragon with a red face. The druddigon bellowed and raised its claws.

Liviana and Aurelia both threw out pokemon of their own, a roserade and a noivern. Upon seeing that he was outnumbered, the Dragonslayer sent out another pokemon, this time releasing an angry-looking haxorus.

"Divina, sleep powder," Liviana called out. The roserade twirled and released a cloud of minuscule blue spores which floated towards the druddigon and haxorus.

"Esther, incinerate!" The druddigon opened its mouth and sent a burst of fire towards the spores, which, when it made contact with them, caused them to explode. The haxorus then began rushing Divina, but Aurelia's noivern intercepted the other dragon and slammed into it from the air.

"Razor leaf, then sleep powder again." Divina twirled and sent out a flurry of sharpened leaves towards the druddigon, causing it to lift its arms in defense. The roserade wasted no time in spinning again and releasing some more spores, and this time they made contact with the opponent. As the pores began to swirl around the druddigon, the dragon's eyelids drooped and it began to slouch. Soon it was asleep.

The Dragonslayer opted to recall his druddigon rather than let it be abused by the roserade as it struggled to escape from its spore-induced sleep. He sent out a salamence in exchange, and the large, quadruped dragon roared fearsomely as it entered the fray.

"Razor leaf and sleep powder, Divina." Liviana attempted the same tactic again to see if she could get lucky, but the salamence simply flapped its red wings and sent the leaves and spores right back at the roserade.

Divina had a natural resistance against the spores, but they nevertheless caused her to yawn and become sluggish. The salamence took advantage of this and spewed a stream of fire at the roserade, and Divina shrieked in agony as she was burned by the super-effective attack.

Liviana grimaced and recalled her pokemon as Divina dropped to one knee, unable to fight off the fire that consumed her. The salamence roared in victory. Livina noticed that the Dragonslayer was now focusing on Aurelia and her noivern and had left the salamence to fight its own battle, indicating that the dragon was definitely both powerful and experienced.

Livina sent out her seviper, Mirzai, her most powerful pokemon. The snake hissed upon release, seemingly not intimidated by the large dragon that he was to face.

"Use night slash!" She shouted, and her seviper swung his tail around and jabbed it at the salamence. The dragon took the attack but then returned one of its own, a vicious fire blast that caused Mirzai to screech in pain. The salamence then flapped its wings and rushed towards the seviper, slamming it into the wall.

"Coil around it, Mirzai!" Now that the salamence had gotten close to him, Mirzai was able to wrap his serpentine body around the dragon and begin constricting. The dragon roared in distress and desperately tried to break free.

"Poison fang! Aim for the neck!" The seviper sunk its long, red fangs into the dragon's neck, pumping poison into the salamence as it shrieked. However, the salamence took that moment to use its own fangs, and it bit right into Mirzai's head with an extreme amount of force. The seviper screeched and let go of the salamence, and the blue and red dragon immediately flapped away from the snake's grip.

The salamence then sent a beam of blue energy towards Mirzai, sending the seviper right back into the wall. As Mirzai slunk out of the crater he had created in the wall, the salamence shot another fire blast at him and Liviana knew that he could no longer go on. She returned her seviper and pulled out another pokeball.

The next pokemon she sent out was Roland, her glalie. The strange looking pokemon appeared and began floating in the air, its face contorted into a snarl. She was taking a chance with an ice type, as the salamence possessed an arsenal of impressive fire attacks, but the dragon also had a severe weakness to ice as well.

"Ice beam!" Roland opened his mouth and sent a linear beam of ice towards the salamence, but the dragon countered with its own flamethrower attack that stopped the ice beam in its tracks. The salamence then shot a compact burst of fire at the glalie, and if it touched Roland, Livina knew that the fire blast would explode on impact and practically melt him.

Luckily Roland managed to dodge the attack and fire off another ice beam, but the salamence flapped its wings and did some evading of its own. It then began charging towards the glalie.

"Try an ice shard attack!" Roland sent a storm of ice shards towards the salamence, all of which made contact with the creature, but the dragon did not even slow down. As it got close to Roland, the salamence opened its maw and released a point-blank fire blast into the ice type's scowling face. As the fire made contact with Roland, Liviana hastily returned him.

She cursed under her breath as she readied another pokeball. She didn't care or know what was going on with Aurelia and the Dragonslayer; all she wanted was to finish the salamence. The damn dragon had already taken out three of her pokemon, and she was not going to be humiliated by one pokemon.

Liviana heaved another pokeball into the air, this time releasing her heliolisk, Yered. The electric lizard hissed upon release and extended its collar in order to look more fearsome, but the salamence only blew smoke out of its nostrils and roared.

"Use your speed!" Liviana called. "Quick attack!"

Yered darted towards the salamence and slammed into its side, and the blue and red dragon roared again and took to the air. It loosed a stream of fire at the lizard, but Yered skidded away from the flamethrower and launched a thunderbolt at the dragon. Salamence shook its head and shrugged off the electricity and then dived at the heliolisk, but once again the yellow lizard managed to dodge the attack.

"Keep dodging, Yered! You're too fast for it!"

The heliolisk continued to evade the salamence's attacks and kept on thunderbolting it. The dragon did not seem too damaged by the attacks, but Liviana knew that it wouldn't last very long if it kept receiving blows and giving none.

Suddenly, the salamence landed and let out a loud roar. Yered used another quick attack, but the attack seemed to bounce of the dragon. The salamence roared again, and the ground began to shake. Liviana struggled to keep her balance, but the shaking was most powerful where Yered was. The small lizard was being tossed around like a rag doll by the earthquake attack, and when the ground stopped shaking, Yered stopped moving.

Liviana swore again and recalled her pokemon. She immediately sent out another; this time it was her magmar called Blythe. The magmar would at least be resistant to the salamence's flamethrower and fire blast attacks.

"Try a flamethrower!" Blythe shot a string of fire from his narrow snout, but the salamence charged right through it and slammed into the magmar, a blue, draconic energy surrounding the salamence's body.

"Damn it," Livina said, anger lacing her voice. "Blythe, get up and use a confuse ray!"

The magmar slowly got to its feet and sent out a ball of bright yellow energy, but the salamence flapped its wings and easily avoided the attack. It then roared and slammed into the magmar once more. Liviana heard a sickening crunch as the dragon made contact with Blythe, and she immediately recalled her pokemon.

She felt a bead of sweat trail down her face and to her chin as she clutched her last pokeball. It contained Ignazio, her pinsir, but she knew that the bug pokemon would be destroyed by the salamence's infernal fire attacks. Nevertheless, she sent the bug out and watched as he clacked his pincers together in preparation.

Before Liviana could even utter a command, the salamence fired a devastatingly hot wave of fire towards Ignazio. Liviana felt sick as she recalled her last pokemon to prevent it from being burnt alive. If she was going die, she found no reason that her pokemon should die with her.

She looked at the salamence, and the dragon glared back at her. Nothing stood between the two now. Liviana pulled out her gun and pointed it towards the dragon, her hands shaking nervously. She knew that the bullet from her pistol would barely make a dent in the salamence's hardened scale armor.

Just as she was about to fire anyway, the salamence let out a long, pained roar and collapsed. As Liviana stood there in shock, her pistol still clutched by her unsteady hands, she noticed blood and some sort of purple acid seeping out of two punctures in the dragon's neck.

Surprise filled her mind, then glee. _Mirzai did manage to poison it after all._ Now that the threat was gone, Liviana remembered that Aurelia was currently fighting the rest of the Dragonslayer's pokemon.

Liviana turned and saw Aurelia and her simisear facing off against the Dragonslayer and his flygon. The sand dragon was breathing heavily while the red monkey seemed relatively fresh, but Liviana also noticed that the Dragonslayer was holding his left arm. Blood covered his hand and was gushing out from underneath it.

Aurelia's simisear jumped into the air and, in a flurry of impressive acrobatic motions, kicked, punched, and slammed the flygon in its head and torso. The assault was too much for the desert dragon to take, and it slumped over and fell to the ground, defeated.

The Dragonslayer winced as he recalled his pokemon. The old man fell to his knees, and Liviana assumed that Aurelia and her simisear had just finished off the last of his pokemon.

Aurelia flipped her red hair as she saw Liviana walk over and glanced at her with her shining blue eyes. "Where were you? We could have used your help." The simisear hooted energetically, as if to emphasize Aurelia's point.

"I was dealing with a salamence, and it was probably much stronger than anything you faced," Liviana replied scornfully.

"Edward was my first pokemon, and my strongest," the Dragonslayer interrupted, his voice full of sadness. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

Liviana shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. But if he is dead, you'll soon be joining him. You've lost a lot of blood."

The old man sighed deeply, and his voice sounded even weaker than before. "I know. It's over."

"Listen up, Dragonslayer," Liviana continued. "We can make your passing peaceful and merciful, or we can make it very unpleasant. Tell us everything you know about Rayquaza."

The old man looked startled. "Rayquaza?"

"You're the only trainer who went to Sky Pillar, fought Rayquaza, and made it out alive. What are his weaknesses? What do we need to do to capture Rayquaza?"

The old man shook his head. "No. You cannot capture him. You all mistake me, I'm no 'Dragonslayer,' I never have been. I never defeated Rayquaza, I didn't knock him out or kill him or capture him. All I did was talk to him, me and Edward, we talked to him, that's all." The old man looked very feeble in that moment, and his face was as pale as his whiskers.

"He doesn't have much longer," Aurelia whispered to Liviana.

"What did that man want with you? The one from the government?" Liviana asked.

"Something about Rayquaza, and the Orbs... I feel faint. I can't remember much." The old man was swaying now, wavering. Liviana knew that he would die soon.

"Tell us."

"He said... He said the Orbs were... No, the blue one... At Mossdeep... I am very tired..." The Dragonslayer crumpled and fell, his knees no longer able to hold him upright. "Edward..." He murmured. And then he was gone.

Liviana stared at the man's body for a second, her cold green eyes looking right through the lifeless old man who used to be the Dragonslayer.

"Let's go," she finally said. "We've got to get to Mossdeep."

* * *

 _Dex entry #373: salamence_

 _"In the early days of Hoenn, salamence were probably the most feared pokemon in the region. They would fly around Hoenn from village to village, and whenever they landed at a village, the people would be expected to have a human sacrifice ready for the dragon. If the villagers decided that they weren't going to give up one of their own, the salamence would simply fly over the village and burn everything to the ground." - Interview with Barry Genroe, Hoenn historian_

 _Salamence are fearsome dragon pokemon found in the mountains and caves of Hoenn and in a few other parts of the world. These pokemon are capable of flight, and they often times use their wings to give them an edge in battle. Though salamence are rare, they are also very dangerous, capable of spewing fire, draconic energy, and mauling their opponents with their deadly claws and fangs. Police have had reports in many cities and towns of people spotting large blue dragons flying in the sky, and though these sightings are frightening, they are largely unfounded. Still, towns located near mountains employ a warning system against these dragons, just in case they do decide to appear and terrorize the people of Hoenn once again. Salamence are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	10. Chapter 10

The ultra ball looked like any other ultra ball; nothing about it would have hinted that the ball held Rayquaza the Sky God. Alfgar pocketed the ball and looked at his partners.

"We should go," he said finally.

"How? All our pokemon that can fly are knocked out," Gary said.

"I can try sending Khnum out again. Maybe he's recovered enough to fly us to Pacifidlog Town, at least," Spencer offered.

Alfgar nodded to him. Gary had no fliers, and Apollo would definitely not be in the shape to do anything, let alone fly, for a while.

Spencer sent out his gyarados and the beast materialized with a flash of white light. The towering blue dragon roared upon release, though it also shook its head and blinked a few times to reorient itself.

"Hey! Think you can fly us out of here?" Spencer called to the gyarados. Khnum roared in reply.

"That's a yes," Spencer translated. The gyarados leaned down and let Gary and Alfgar return their pokemon and climb onto the blue, serpentine pokemon.

Spencer sat directly behind the gyarados' head and told Gary to sit behind the first large white fin that protruded from the pokemon's back. Alfgar sat behind the second one and held on to it tightly as Khnum slowly took flight.

As the sea serpent coiled its way through the air, Alfgar's fingers ghosted the ultra ball that was now clipped to his belt. He thought about Ogdun and his two beartic, Steelshanks the metagross, and about his deceased arbok, Wick.

It wasn't the first time Alfgar had lost a pokemon, and it probably wouldn't be the last either. He wasn't very close to the arbok, and Wick was a conniving, greedy, perfidious, and sly pokemon. Even though he didn't always get along with Wick, Alfgar knew that the arbok had still fought with him when he needed him, and that the snake died following his orders. Still, Alfgar found it hard to be overtly sad about the death of the arbok.

Alfgar had done many terrible things in the past, and he was no stranger to suppressing his emotions. He could not tell if he simply didn't care for Wick or whether he was just so good at repressing his feelings that his mind just eliminated any emotions before they could make themselves known to him.

Hours passed and the sun set, leaving the sky a shade of dark purple. Bright white stars twinkled above, and when Alfgar looked down he could see their vibrant reflections in the black water.

After another half hour or so, Alfgar saw a small cluster of yellow lights on the surface of the ocean. As the group neared Pacifidlog, Khnum slowly descended and hit the water a mile away from the ocean town. Though the gyarados had descended slowly, the spray from the water still chilled Alfgar as the gyarados touched down on the surface of the sea. Half of the gyarados' body was now underwater as it swam towards the town.

"I don't think the citizens of Pacifidlog would take too kindly to a gyarados dropping in on them in the middle of the night, so we're going to approach slowly from the water," Spencer called out from the front of the gyarados.

As Khnum swam towards Pacifidlog, Alfgar felt his stomach grumble. He hadn't eaten anything since being inside Sky Pillar, and his hunger was compounded by the sudden weariness he felt. He also hadn't slept since entering Sky Pillar, and he didn't even know how long they had been inside the tower.

Eventually the group reached Pacifidlog, and Khnum swam up next to a large platform made of wood. Alfgar, Spencer, and Gary dismounted and walked onto the platform. As Spencer recalled his gyarados, Alfgar looked around at the town.

Pacifidlog was very small and out-of-the-way, and it consisted solely of a group of wooden platforms connected by wooden walkways and bridges. The platform the group was standing on had three small houses on it, but Alfgar could see other platforms in the distance holding things such as a pokemon center, a pokemart, a shoddy hospital, and more houses.

The group walked along the platform and crossed a few wooden bridges and walkways to reach the largest platform in the town. This platform was home to a large plaza, and most of the light emanated from the street lamps placed alongside the plaza. A large statue of a pack of sharpedo stood in the center of the plaza, and a modest fountain rested in front of the statue. The plaza platform also contained a few shops, and a handful of people milled about.

The group made their way to the next wooden platform, this one smaller than the plaza one. This platform only held the pokemon center, and the three trainers entered the building and were greeted by the familiar interior design that every pokemon center had.

The trainers walked up to the counter and handed the nurse their pokeballs, but Alfgar held on to Rayquaza's ultra ball. He wanted the dragon to be weakened when he next released it, and he didn't think the center would remain calm after seeing that he had a legendary with him. The three then walked over to the cafeteria, ordered food, and sat down at a table.

"You know he's not yours, right?" Gary said when he saw Alfgar fingering Rayquaza's ball again. "We all helped to catch him, so he belongs to all of us."

"He doesn't belong to anyone, Gary," Alfgar shot back. "You think now that we have him in a ball he's just going to start listening to us? I guarantee you, the next time we release him he's going to try and kill us all."

"And we'll be prepared," Gary said nonchalantly as he chewed his grilled spoink sandwich. "We beat him once, we can beat him again. He knows that we're more powerful than him."

Alfgar shook his head at Gary's arrogance. "We brought twenty, yet he still managed to kill five of us and severely wound many others. And I think we got lucky, too."

"You're such a pessimist, Alfgar," Spencer cut in. "We won! We beat a fucking _god_."

 _But none of you lost a pokemon_ , Alfgar thought, though he didn't say anything. He still hadn't felt anything over Wick's death, so he didn't think it made sense to act like he was torn up about it.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Alfgar conceded. "But we should still get going early tomorrow morning. We don't want to - "

"Check that out," Gary interrupted, pointing at one of the televisions that hung from the cafeteria ceiling.

Alfgar glanced at the screen and noticed a news report talking about a conference in Lilycove and how a Unovan and Kalosian representative were killed. It also said that Unova and Hoenn had officially declared war on each other. Alfgar knew that this was coming, but it still felt surreal to see it written out like that.

"Does this really change anything?" Spencer asked.

"No. We keep doing what we're doing, and we stick to the plan," Alfgar replied.

"What exactly is the plan?" Spencer wondered. "We have Rayquaza, now what? Do we go after Groudon?"

"We've got to get Rayquaza to listen to us first, or else he's completely useless. Since Gary here is so confident, I was hoping that he would know how to tame this legendary dragon."

Gary just shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. "We'll figure it out along the way," he said, his mouth full of food.

Alfgar glared at Gary but chose not to pester him further. Instead, he took a sip of his cold, carbonated drink and felt the bubbles burn down his throat, a feeling that was chilly and spicy at the same time.

He thought about the war. He figured that Unova would probably invade Hoenn, as it had the larger army and could afford to send soldiers overseas as well as keep some reserves at home. He also wondered if he would have to fight and maybe even kill Unovan soldiers, the men and women who had been his comrades in the past. He decided that he would avoid it if possible, but he would definitely not balk if his hand was forced.

He planned to return to the base and then release Rayquaza into the jungle outside the cavern. All the Brothers would have their pokemon out in order to contain Rayquaza if he tried anything, but the dragon legendary would be weakened and hampered by the dense foliage so they hopefully wouldn't have a problem with that.

After a few more minutes of eating and listening to Gary boast about how his porygon-z's hyper beams had been the difference in defeating Rayquaza, Alfgar finished his dinner and returned to the lobby of the pokemon center. The Pacifidlog pokemon center was relatively empty with no one there save for Alfgar. He figured this was due to the small size of the town and the fact that it was close to one in the morning.

"Hi, I'd like to inquire about the health of my pokemon," Alfgar said to the nurse who manned the desk.

The nurse was a plain-looking woman in scrubs, and she yawned before asking for his name. Alfgar gave it to her, and she clicked a few times at her computer before turning back to him.

"Your charizard has a couple broken ribs and a fractured femur, and your tyrantrum suffered a concussion and possibly some bone fractures as well. Those two should probably stay overnight, but the rest of your pokemon are fine. Would you like them back?"

Alfgar nodded and then thanked the nurse as she handed him the three pokeballs. He then headed up to the room he had reserved when he first checked in. Since the pokemon center was almost entirely empty, each of the three trainers were able to have their own rooms.

As he walked into the rather plain room, Alfgar tossed his pack onto the bed and chucked the three pokeballs into the air. While the pokemon emerged from their balls, Alfgar glanced out the window. He could see a few more of Pacifidlog's buildings on wooden rafts, most of them residential houses. Past them, though, there was nothing but the ocean. It was vast and dark, mysterious and foreboding. As it rippled under the moonlight and the gleam of the stars, the water looked eerily beautiful to Alfgar.

He turned back to his pokemon. His kecleon, Randy, emerged from his ball and began looking around, his reptilian eyes darting around the room. He squawked and then darted into the bed and began wrapping himself in the covers. Alfgar heard a growl as Luce, his luxray, approached them. The lion jumped onto the bed, displacing the kecleon and causing him to squawk in anger. The last pokeball revealed Evenfall, Alfgar's glaceon. She preferred the floor to the warmth of the bed and lay down after observing her surroundings.

"This is Pacifidlog," Alfgar announced as he watched Randy throw a pillow at Luce as the kecleon leapt of the bed. The luxray simply batted the pillow away and glared at Randy.

"If you guys would stop fighting for a second," he started, looking pointedly at Randy and Luce, "I have some things to say. As you know, we caught Rayquaza. What you don't know is that the war has begun."

Evenfall stared at him with an uninterested expression on her face, Luce continued glaring at Randy, and the kecleon himself was now rummaging through Alfgar's pack; the lizard had pulled it off the bed and thrown it onto the floor. Overall, none of the three seemed to care about the news at all.

Slightly irked, Alfgar continued on. "Also, Wick was killed at Sky Pillar, just in case any of you missed Rayquaza ripping him in half."

 _"Good. That snake was plotting to kill you, Master, I am sure of it,"_ said Luce, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"If any of my pokemon were plotting to kill me, I would bet that it would be you, Luce," came Alfgar's reply. He noticed that none of his other pokemon said anything or indicated that they were saddened by the arbok's passing. _Was Wick really that bad, or have they all just become like me?_ He wondered.

 _"Where are the other two? The dinosaur and that infernal charizard,"_ asked Evenfall.

"Healing. They took a lot of damage, but they should be alright by tomorrow, which is when we return to the base."

Alfgar then remembered how tired he was, and the fatigue hit him in a harsh wave. He lay down on the bed and pulled the covers over himself, only stopping to kick off his boots. Luce growled in annoyance but moved over for his trainer all the same.

Alfgar stifled a yawn. "Will someone get the lights?" He asked, his voice dulled. No one responded to his request, but he nevertheless drifted off to sleep even though the lights were still on.

He then realized that he forgot to feed his three pokemon, but he was too far gone to wake himself now. As sleep overtook him, he hoped that Luce wouldn't go off and kill someone out of hunger.

* * *

"It hasn't changed a bit." Edwin smiled and looked over the city, and Poseidon croaked his agreement.

Mossdeep was located on a small island off the coast of Lilycove, though it was far enough away that neither city could even see the other on the horizon. It was a bustling city and quite the opposite of Fortree. Mossdeep was home to the famous Mossdeep Space Station, the only space center in all of Hoenn. The city was also filled with gleaming skyscrapers and corporate buildings, and it was considered the tech capital of the region because of the vast number of scientists, researchers, and inventors that lived there.

Even so, Mossdeep, like almost every other city in Hoenn, was very in tune with nature. A gentle sea breeze could be felt almost everywhere on the island, and a large, green, beautiful park was located in the middle of the city.

Tourism was a vital part of Mossdeep's ecosystem, and after people got tired of looking at the rocket ships and the space rocks they would often take a ride on on of Mossdeep's guided ocean tours, in which tourists were able to get close to and observe a whole array of water pokemon that lived in the ocean surrounding the island.

"It's very pretty," Faustina remarked as she stepped off the boat and walked over to Edwin. "Do your parents live near here?"

"They live next to the space station, so it'll take an hour or so if we walk from here. Come on, we should get going. I told Mom I was coming home, and she'll be worried if I don't show up soon."

Faustina shook her head. "You go ahead. I'll be at the pokemon center. I don't want to intrude on your family reunion."

Edwin sighed. "You're not intruding! After all you've done for me, the least I can do is let you stay at my house." Poseidon croaked, again voicing his agreement.

"No, no, it's fine. The pokemon center isn't bad, and it's not costly either. You go on."

"Alright, suit yourself," Edwin replied. "I think I'm going to visit the space station afterwards, my dad works there. You want to come?"

Faustina's violet eyes twinkled at that. "Sounds interesting. Sure, I'll go."

"Alright, I'll call you, then. See you later." With that, Edwin and Poseidon left the harbor and headed towards the west side of the island, towards the Mossdeep Space Station.

"Mom's probably going to be mad again," Edwin said to Poseidon as they headed towards the trainer's house. "This is only the second time we've visited since we left."

Poseidon nodded, then croaked something in reply. Edwin looked at him quizzically, and Poseidon grunted and pointed towards a tall building in the distance. The space station.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I'm excited too. Dad promised he'd show us a lot more than he did last time, now that we're older. He also said he had something really exciting and important for me to do, but I have no clue what he means by that. Guess we'll find out soon enough, though."

Edwin and Poseidon walked through the city until they arrived at a string of housing developments located only a few miles away from the Mossdeep Space Center. The space station was a compound of buildings all centered around one tall structure. Connected to the structure was a large space shuttle, its fresh white paint gleaming in the Hoenn sunlight.

The pair strolled along, admiring the space shuttle as they walked through the rows of nice but identical houses. Eventually they stopped at one of the homes, though nothing about it made it stand out from its neighboring houses.

The house was relatively large with a medium-sized lawn. The outside of the building was painted a bright white, and the door and mailbox were painted a vibrant red color. Edwin approached the door and pushed the button next to it, and soon enough a middle-aged woman with brown hair opened the door.

Her blue eyes lit up when she saw Edwin and she immediately grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Mom, stop it," Edwin grunted as he struggled to break free of her grasp.

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey, it's just that I haven't seen you in so long and - oh! Poseidon, you evolved again?"

The swampert croaked happily at being noticed.

"Come in, you two! I was just about to start making lunch. And Edwin, let your other pokemon out, too. I'm sure they're tired of being cooped up in their balls, and we've got enough food for everyone."

Edwin and his swampert followed the boy's mother into the house, and the young pokemon trainer was immediately hit by a wave of nostalgia. Everything was the same, from the hardwood floors to the blank white walls to the faint aroma of flowers that wafted throughout the house. Edwin released his other five pokemon and watched as they began exploring the house.

Shira, Revina, and Elric barked, buzzed, and chirped upon recognizing the house, but Ajax and Elena had never been to their trainer's house before and began looking around quizzically.

"This is my house, for those of you who don't know," Edwin explained to his electabuzz and ninetales. Ajax growled happily at his trainer's words but Elena slunk off and lay down under one of the chairs next to the large wooden dining table.

Edwin sat down as well, and Poseidon rested on the ground next to him. Edwin had noticed that though the swampert was capable of sitting on a chair and eating at the table, he preferred to laze around on the ground. Ajax sat down next to Edwin and Shira jumped onto the chair on the other side of her trainer. Elric flew over and perched on top of another chair, and Revina buzzed around her trainer's head.

"Oh, my!" Edwin's mother exclaimed as she entered the room. "You've got a full team now! Don't worry, I'm sure we still have enough. And Edwin? Your father said to send you over to the space station as soon as you arrived, so after you have lunch you should head over."

* * *

Edwin marveled at the sheer size of it. The whole space compound together must take up half the island, and the shuttle itself could probably rival the tallest building in center city. Poseidon grunted next to him, clearly just as impressed as Edwin was.

His blue eyes navigated over the polished black stone of the main building. Edwin decided that he had waited long enough and pushed walked through the automatic doors that led into a large lobby, the walls and floor also set in shining black stone.

He had sent Faustina a text and also tried calling her to tell her that he was going to the space station, but she had not responded. He remembered that they were interrupted back in Lilycove when they were going to buy her a new phone, so he figured that Faustina had completely forgot about it and still didn't have a cellphone. His mother had told him that his father urgently needed to see him, and for that reason Edwin didn't waste time going over to the pokemon center to tell Faustina. Besides, they could go back to the space station at any time. He would be in Mossdeep for a while; his mother would see to that.

Edwin pushed his way through the crowds in the lobby and attempted to get to the welcome desk. The main entrance of the Mossdeep Space Station was always filled to the brim, as tourists often came by to visit the famous Mossdeep Space Museum. After a few minutes of pushing and shoving (though people mostly got out of his way when they saw his swampert), Edwin finally made it to the welcome desk.

"Hi, I'm here to see my father, he should be expecting me. My name is Edwin Willow," he said to one of the secretaries that manned the large welcome desk.

The woman glanced at her computer. She had bright red hair tied into a tight ponytail and wore expensive-looking glasses. She wore a well-ironed white-collared shirt, and her whole appearance spoke of professionalism and efficiency. Her computer was paper-thin and had a minimalistic design, but Edwin knew that it was probably worth thousands of pokedollars and that it was extremely powerful.

"Edwin Willow..." She muttered as she typed some commands into her computer. "Ah. Yes, your father did tell us to look out for you. One moment, please."

The secretary turned to the sleek black telephone that sat at her desk and picked it up as she dialed a number.

"Hi," she said into the phone,"Commander Willow's son is here. We need someone to escort him to the docking area... Okay, thanks a lot." She put down the phone. "If you'll wait here for a few moments, someone will be here to escort you to your father."

Edwin thanked her and stood in front of the desk, looking around awkwardly. Poseidon croaked something, but Edwin didn't understand. The swampert was on all fours, lazing around as he so often did. Poseidon was over six feet tall when he stood to his full height, and he could be very menacing if he wanted to be.

Despite this, Poseidon preferred to spend his time sleeping or resting. This was a large change from his demeanor as a marshtomp, as back then Poseidon was hyperactive and was always looking for an opponent to battle. Edwin figured that now that he was a swampert, Poseidon felt that he didn't need to prove anything by picking fights because he already knew that he was stronger than everyone.

After a few more minutes of waiting around, Edwin saw a tall, muscular, middle-aged man approach the welcome desk. He was wearing a tropical green uniform and had a black assault rifle slung over his back, indicating that he was probably from the military. He also had two pokeballs clipped to his belt.

"Edwin Willow?" The man asked. Edwin nodded, and the man motioned for him to follow.

Edwin followed the soldier through a series of hallways and walkways, passing things such as laboratories, automated machines, strange-looking computer screens mounted to the walls, scientists in lab coats, and engineers rushing around.

Eventually the three reached a set of large steel doors, and guarding those doors were a group of soldiers dressed in the same uniform as Edwin's guide. The group of men stood outside a small booth which Edwin figured to be a checkpoint station.

"Your father is in there," Edwin's guide stated, pointing towards the metal doors, "but you'll need to recall your pokemon first. Also, you'll need this." The man headed into the booth and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a pass that Edwin could wear around his neck. As Edwin returned Poseidon and put the pass on, the man pushed a button inside the booth and the steel doors slid open.

Edwin walked through the doors and entered a large laboratory with steel gray walls and flooring, apparently made out of some kind of metal. The laboratory overlooked the large space shuttle, and Edwin could see small teams of engineers working in and around the shuttle, their equipment buzzing and drilling.

He also saw two people leaning over the railing and looking at the shuttle. One of them was Commander Leonard Willow, Edwin's father. He was a man of average height and build but of extraordinary intellect, and he wore a lab coat on top of a green uniform. His father was technically part of the military, but he had always considered himself more of a scientist than a soldier. Leonard Willow had blond hair and a blond beard and mustache. He had bright blue eyes which gave the impression of youth, but his wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and his thinning hair provided contradictory visuals.

The other person was a woman with dark hair and a slim but curvaceous build. As she turned to face Edwin, her purple eyes glinted with amusement.

"Faustina? How'd you get in here?"

"I let her in," Edwin's father said with a jolly smile on his face. "It's good to see you again, son."

Edwin returned the smile and gave his father a hug. "You too, Dad."

"Well this is touching, isn't it?"

Edwin pulled apart from his father and glared at Faustina. "You could have at least told me you'd be here."

"I don't have a phone, remember? And if I told you, it wouldn't be as fun."

"Faustina told me all about your travels," Edwin's father broke in, "and based on what she's told me, I'm sure you can handle this little job I have for you."

Edwin watched the engineers flit around the space shuttle like flies. He saw a metagross levitate through one of the doorways on the lower levels and then float up to assist some of the workers. "Job? What job?"

"The Blue Orb. I need you and Faustina to help deliver it to Fortree."

Edwin's eyes narrowed in confusion. "The Blue Orb? It's here?"

Leonard Willow nodded. "The Red Orb was recently stolen, and we suspect that whoever stole it intends to use it to wake Groudon. We need to get this Blue Orb to Winona. She and some other league officials are going to discuss whether or not to wake Kyogre in anticipation of an attack."

"Do you know who took the Red Orb?" Edwin asked.

His father shrugged. "We don't know for sure, but we do know that it was stolen at Slateport Harbor the day those two Unovan spies showed up, so it might be them. However, we also suspect that the Brotherhood of the Black may have had something to do with it. When they attacked the weather institution, they stole documents relating to the transfer of the Orbs."

"Why me? Why can't your soldiers deliver it? Or why can't you keep it here?"

"We can't keep the Blue Orb here because when the Unovans invade, this space station is going to be one of the first places they'll attack. I'm not going to give it to some soldiers because that would look pretty suspicious, and if the Unovans still have spies here in Hoenn, soldiers will always be targets. A pair of trainers, though? Nothing unusual about that. No one will suspect a thing. Who better to go than my own son?"

Edwin had to admit that he was excited about the prospect. If the Unovans were going to invade, as his father had implied, he wanted to be helping his country in any way he could. Delivering the Blue Orb would be something a lot more useful than just resting at home.

"I think we should do it, Edwin," Faustina interjected as she noticed that Edwin had not spoken for a while.

Edwin nodded in agreement. "I'll do it. When do we leave?"

His father clapped him on the back. "Excellent! You two should leave as soon as possible; tomorrow, if you can. Here, I'll give you the Orb now."

Leonard Willow walked into a small room in the back of the large space that overlooked the shuttle. He came out holding a small burlap sack containing a spherical object about the size of a bowling ball. He handed the sack to his son, who held the object gently with two hands.

Edwin pulled the Blue Orb out of the sack and marveled at its beauty. It was as blue as the ocean, and Edwin could feel the energy emanating from within the core of the Orb. It vibrated slightly in his hands as if the inside of the Orb contained the churning sea. Edwin put the sack back over the Orb and carefully placed it into his pack.

"One more thing before you leave," Leonard Willow said as he went back into the room and returned with a well-polished ultra ball. He handed the ball to Edwin, who looked confused at receiving such a high-quality and expensive pokeball.

"What's this for?" The young trainer asked, his confused blue eyes meeting his father's determined ones.

"That ball contains a very powerful pokemon," Edwin's father explained. "You need to deliver it to Winona as well. However, since you are on an important mission, I want you to use it yourself if you encounter resistance. Though it is unlikely, there is always the possibility that someone could somehow figure out that you have the Blue Orb, and there are people who will kill to get that artifact."

"Alright. Thanks, I guess," Edwin replied as he clipped the ball to his belt.

"Be careful with that. Only use it in an absolute emergency," his father cautioned.

"I promise." Edwin looked at Faustina, and then at his father. "Now let's do this."

* * *

 _Dex entry #260: swampert_

 _"Avoid going into swamps if possible. Not only dangerous and hard to navigate, swamps are home to some of the most powerful pokemon in Hoenn: swampert. Though I realize that trainers are attracted to strong pokemon, swampert do not take kindly to having their homes invaded. If they decide you are a threat, swampert will swing at you with their massive arms and can easily break your back without even trying. If you value your life, skip over Hoenn's swamps while on your journey." - Excerpt from_ A Guide to Pokemon: Hoenn Edition _by Professor Daniel Birch_

 _Swampert are large, rare, water-ground types found in the swamps and marshes of Hoenn and in a few scattered swamps across the world. They are extremely rare pokemon and prefer to live solitary, peaceful lives. Despite this, swampert are still extremely dangerous if provoked. Swampert are considered to have physical strength that surpasses that of most fighting types, and these pokemon are even capable of carrying and smashing large boulders. Teams of swampert are sometimes used to drag sunken ships out from the ocean floor, and there have been occasions where naval authorities have used swampert to help bring stranded boats back to shore during storms. Swampert are considered a level three threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	11. Chapter 11

"I hated this route the first time, and I'm not liking it any better now," Edwin complained as he angrily pushed his way through the tall jungle grass that reached up to his navel.

"Well, this _is_ a jungle," Faustina replied. "And jungles are known for their dense foliage."

"I know - " Edwin stopped mid-sentence to angrily swat at the leaves of a tree that smacked him in the face as he walked past it. " - but that doesn't make it any less annoying."

The young trainer estimated that they were still a couple hours away from Fortree. His father had dropped Faustina and him off at Lilycove via boat, but it was then up to them to make it to Fortree. Edwin's father had told them to avoid the dirt road and to stick to the jungle paths, as going through the jungle would make it more difficult for them to be spotted or attacked by others looking for the Blue Orb.

The rainforest air was hot and humid, and the uncomfortable conditions only served to worsen Edwin's mood. The only thing they had going for them was that they had not been attacked by any pokemon so far, so their journey was going rather smoothly (save for the cumbersome jungle foliage).

The pair continued hacking their way through the jungle route for a few more minutes before Faustina broke the silence and snapped Edwin out of his plant-hating thoughts.

"Did you hear something?" She asked.

Edwin grunted. "I mean, there's all kinds of sounds in the jungle. Like that damn taillow that won't shut up!" His voice rose as he mentioned the bird, as if the pokemon would somehow hear him and decide to listen to his pleas.

Faustina sighed in response. "You know what I mean. I heard something else, something out of the ordinary." Her violet eyes squinted into the dense, green foliage, looking at something that wasn't there.

"It's probably this heat playing tricks on you," Edwin said. "I can't even hear myself think because it's so hot. I wouldn't be surprised if this humidity and heat combo could also cause hallucinations."

Faustina paused for a bit. "Maybe you're right. We should keep mov - no, I heard it again. There's definitely something there."

The blue-eyed trainer's hand went towards his pokeballs. He figured the noise was probably some stray pokemon, but it wouldn't hurt to be at least a little bit cautious. If the Blue Orb fell into the wrong hands, the results could be disastrous. Faustina had wanted to carry the Orb herself, but Edwin had assured her that he could handle it.

Faustina herself was now holding a pokeball, and she was staring intently into the deep, green foliage of the jungle. Suddenly, a blast of fire jetted out from the leaves and streamed towards the two trainers. Faustina rolled out of the way with ease and Edwin clumsily threw himself to the ground, just barely avoiding the flames.

He struggled to his feet and plucked a pokeball off his belt, looking around in order to discern where the flamethrower had come from. The leaves in front of him rustled and a woman stepped out from the jungle, a magmar standing at her side. She had long golden hair and piercing green eyes, and she was dressed in a black military uniform.

"You," Faustina said breathlessly. "I recognize you."

The woman glared at her. "And I recognize you. You're a friend of Alfgar's, no?"

"What do you want?" Faustina spat out.

"What do you think? The Blue Orb, of course. I saw you back in Mossdeep, when you got off that boat with him," she said, gesturing towards Edwin. "I saw you both go into the space station, and that's when I knew."

"Edwin's father works at the Mossdeep Space Station," Faustina replied. "We only went to visit him. I don't know what Blue Orb nonsense you're talking about."

The blonde woman laughed bitterly. "You're not very good at lying, are you? Alfgar has the Red Orb, I know that much for sure. You and him being in Hoenn at the same time is no coincidence, so I know you have something to do with him. I also have confirmation that the Blue Orb was being held at the Mossdeep Space Station, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together when I saw you going in there."

Faustina didn't bother to reply. Instead, she tossed her pokeball and sent out a reuniclus which immediately blasted the magmar with a psychic upon being released. Edwin got ready to throw his pokeball as well when he suddenly heard a voice from behind him.

"Two against one isn't very fair, is it?"

Edwin spun around and saw another woman dressed in the same black uniform as the blonde. She had fiery red hair and bright blue eyes not unlike his own. She readied a pokeball and released an angry looking primeape. The ape began pounding the ground with its fists and grunting furiously.

Edwin chucked his own pokeball and shouted, "Elric, aerial ace!"

The pidgeotto appeared in a flash of white light and immediately rushed toward the primeape, slashing it across its body in an impressive show of speed. The primeape reeled backwards, but the damage it took only made it angrier and it continued to slam its fists into the ground.

"Jump, Amur! Bring that bird down," called out the red-haired woman.

The primeape leapt into the air with a squeal and latched onto Elric, pulling him down. Edwin was surprised to see that the fighting type could jump so high.

"Get him off you, Elric!"

The primeape had the pidgeotto pinned down and was repeatedly beating him with its large, glove-like fists. Elric struggled to push the ape off, but all he could do was slap the pig monkey with his wings and vainly try to peck the fighter.

Edwin recalled his pidgeotto when he saw that the primeape clearly had the upper hand and instead sent out Ajax. The electabuzz flexed and sparked upon release and began growling at the primeape, who hooted angrily in response.

As he watched the two pokemon size each other up, Edwin thought about his next move. The primeape would definitely beat Ajax if it came to a fistfight, but Ajax was also capable of attacking from afar while the primeape seemed to be more of a physical fighter.

"Thunderbolt!" Edwin shouted. Ajax shot a bolt of electricity from the two nodes on his head, but the primeape rolled out of the way with ease. After an order from its trainer, the primeape then began to rush towards the electabuzz.

"Try and thunderbolt it but stay where you are," Edwin told his pokemon. As the primeape rapidly advanced, Ajax shot bolts of electricity at it, though most seemed to miss the fighting type. Soon enough the primeape was close enough to Ajax to leap at him.

"Thunder punch, now!" Edwin ordered as the primeape's fist was only inches away from Ajax. The electabuzz raised his fist and struck the primeape in its face, causing the monkey to be sent backwards with electricity crackling around it. The primeape slowly got to its feet, but both Edwin and Ajax realized that it was moving more slowly than it was before. Paralysis had set in.

"Rush it, Ajax! Thunder punch!"

Now that the primeape couldn't move as quickly, Ajax would have the advantage from close-range as well as long-range. The woman desperately called out for her primeape to dodge, but the primeape was far too slow for Ajax. The electabuzz swung its sparking fists again and again, beating the primeape bloody. Soon enough, the red-haired woman recalled her pokemon and lifted another ball from her belt.

She tossed the pokeball into the air and released a sandslash. The ground type clacked its claws together in anticipation. Edwin knew that Ajax would be at a severe disadvantage here, as the electabuzz's move pool consisted mainly of electric-type attacks. He returned Ajax and sent Elric back out. The pidgeotto took to the air immediately, though he was still bruised up from the beating he took from the primeape.

"Hamida, swords dance!" The sandslash clacked its claws together again and spun around in a strange ritual.

Edwin grit his teeth. He couldn't let the sandslash become too powerful or else he'd have to stick to long-range attacks, and attacking from a distance was not Elric's forte. "Aerial ace!"

Elric dove down towards the sandslash and attempted to slice at it with his talons, but the ground type blocked Elric's talons with its claws and then sliced at the pidgeotto's underside, drawing blood and causing the bird to fly away with a shriek.

"Use gust," Edwin commanded after seeing Elric's attack repulsed. The pidgeotto flapped his wings violently and blew and intense wind towards the sandslash, but the ground type only curled up into a spiky ball and weathered the attack, taking almost no damage along the way.

Edwin cursed. The two pokemon were at a stalemate, as the sandslash didn't appear to be able to attack from afar and Elric couldn't risk attacking from close-range. Just as Edwin was about to switch Elric out again, the Sandslash shot a flurry of orange energy towards the pidgeotto, almost knocking him to the ground.

 _Swift_ , Edwin recognized. So the sandslash was capable of long-range attacks. "Twister, Elric," he called out.

The flying type flapped his wings again but this time caused a mini-tornado laced with blue, draconic energy. The small funnel went spiraling towards the sandslash, who, predictably, went into its curled-up defensive position again.

"Dive towards it! Wait for it to come out of its ball form and then use aerial ace!"

As the sandslash unfurled itself, Elric dived towards it and struck it across the face with his talons. This time, Elric was the one coming away with blood on his claws. The sandslash screeched in agony as it tried to wipe the blood from its eyes, but its clawed hands made that task very difficult.

"Snap out of it, Hamida!" Shouted the red-haired woman. "It's coming again! Get your claws up!"

Unfortunately for the sandslash, Elric was already in position to strike before the ground type could even process its trainer's commands. The pidgeotto struck again, this time clawing at the sandslash's unprotected belly. Though the new cuts were shallower, blood still seeped out of the sandslash's stomach wounds, causing the ground type to screech again.

"Don't stop, Elric! Keep it up!"

"Get into defensive position, Hamida!" The woman yelled as she heard Edwin's command.

The sandslash feebly tried to curl up again, but the repeated strikes from the pidgeotto's aerial aces were too much to handle. The ground type collapsed, blood pouring out from its various wounds.

As the red-haired woman returned her pokemon and readied another, Elric landed in front of his trainer and gasped for breath, his pale plumage covering his chest now stained red. The rapid fire attacks had taken their toll, and the sandslash's first cut was a crippling blow. Edwin realized that Elric probably wouldn't last another hit, so he recalled the pidgeotto after thanking him for his effort.

The two trainers sent out their pokemon at the same time. The red-haired woman released a simisear with a jolly smile on its face while Edwin sent Ajax back out.

"You already beat one monkey, Ajax, another won't be a problem!" Edwin called out as he grinned. Ajax looked back at his trainer and pumped his fists in the air, exuding confidence.

"Don't get cocky, kid," the woman replied venomously. "Hugo, flame charge!"

The simisear coated itself in flames and charged at Ajax, hooting all the while.

"Thunder punch it!" As the flaming monkey rushed at Ajax, the electabuzz shot its fist forward and zapped the simisear. However, Ajax also took damage as he was singed by the flame charge.

"Thunderbolt, while it's recovering!" Ajax shot a burst of electricity towards the simisear, but the fire type nimbly dodged it and leapt at Ajax, slashing him across the face with its claws glowing purple with a ghostly energy.

Ajax growled in anger and fired off another thunderbolt, but the simisear only laughed and dodged again. The electabuzz grew frustrated at this and stomped his feet on the ground.

"Don't let it bait you! The calmer you are, the more accurate your attacks will be!" Edwin cautioned.

Ajax, however, ignored his trainer's advice as the simisear grabbed a handful of jungle soil and threw it at the electabuzz's face. Ajax roared and charged at the simisear, his two nodes atop his head sparking with electricity.

"Fire punch," ordered the woman, and the simisear coated its fist in flame and delivered a haymaker that sent Ajax to the ground. The electabuzz slowly got to his feet, and Edwin saw with horror that half of the electric type's face had been burned badly by the simisear's close-range fire punch.

"Get out of there, Ajax!"

Instead of listening to Edwin's warning, Ajax attempted to thunder punch the simisear again. The red monkey easily slid past the electric fist and gave Ajax another fire punch in return, this time an uppercut that rendered the electabuzz unconscious. As the simisear hooted in victory, Edwin recalled Ajax and sent out his next pokemon.

Poseidon appeared with a flash of light and bellowed fearsomely upon spotting the simisear. The flame monkey only laughed in response, but Poseidon was not the type to get worked up at such a response.

"Surf!" Edwin shouted. Though the surf attack was weaker without an immediate source of water, it was still enough to blast the chuckling simisear onto its back. The fire type got up and scowled, its jolly attitude replaced by a more serious one.

"You'll have to use your speed on this one, Hugo," remarked the woman. "Circle around it and make sure that it can't touch you."

As the simisear darted around Poseidon and jabbed at the swampert, Edwin smiled to himself. "Earthquake."

Poseidon roared throatily and began to shake the ground nearby. The area under the simisear shook violently, and the fire monkey was slammed about the jungle soil by the swampert's attack. As the simisear struggled to its feet, Poseidon lifted one of his heavy arms and slammed it into the simisear's neck with a resounding crack. The simisear was immediately recalled.

The red-haired woman snarled in anger. "I'm getting sick of this. Arminius, Weland, go!" She tossed two pokeballs into the air, releasing a noivern and a sableye.

Edwin decided to even the odds and sent out Shira, who growled at the two opponents. The sableye wasted no time and immediately sprung into action, dashing around Poseidon and slashing at him with its claws as the swampert tried to swat at the ghost. Shira sent a shadow ball at the noivern, but the dragon flapped its wings and took to the air, avoiding the attack.

The noivern then let out a horrible screech, causing Shira to whimper and lower her ears and making Edwin and Poseidon both raise their hands to block the sound. The sableye took this moment to latch onto Poseidon's face and begin clawing at his eyes.

"Blast it away, Poseidon!" Edwin yelled desperately. Luckily, the swampert heard him and shot a burst of water out of his mouth that sent the sableye sprawling back towards its trainer. Poseidon was bleeding from a few cuts on his face, but fortunately his sight was still intact.

Edwin noticed that Shira was still trying to hit the noivern with a shadow ball, but the airborne dragon was evading the attacks quite well. "Shira, use howl. If that dragon's not going to stay and fight, we're going to make it pay."

The mightyena raised her head to the sky and howled loudly, increasing her confidence and her attacking strength. Out of the corner of his eye, Edwin glimpsed the sableye rushing towards Shira in order to disrupt her howl. "Poseidon, make sure that sableye doesn't reach Shira."

The swampert shot another burst of water at the small ghost, hitting it in its side and causing it to fall over. The sableye got up and hissed, but Poseidon only responded with another blast of water which the sableye barely managed to dodge.

Suddenly the noivern swooped down from the air and slammed into Poseidon, causing the swampert to momentarily stop its assault on the sableye. The little ghost tried to rush Poseidon again, but it was intercepted by Shira who grabbed the sableye in her jaws. She shook her head from side to side, tossing the sableye around like a rag doll.

"Arminius, use hurricane!" Edwin heard the woman shout.

The noivern shrieked in response and began flapping its wings rapidly. The wind began to pick up, and Edwin dove into some bushes to avoid being wrecked by the strong attack. He watched as the high-intensity winds buffeted the three pokemon on the ground, and he saw Shira let go of the sableye and go tumbling away from the battle. Poseidon managed to hold his ground, but he had his eyes screwed shut in pain as the wind ravaged the area.

When the wind finally died down and Edwin emerged from the bushes, he saw that the sableye had put up a protect as soon as Shira released it and that it had not been harmed by the winds. The noivern had landed in front of its trainer and was panting heavily, and Poseidon looked like he was about to collapse. Shira _had_ collapsed, and blood poured out of the numerous cuts that the wind had caused.

Edwin recalled the mightyena and sent out Revina to take her place. The beedrill buzzed angrily upon release, and the sableye cackled at the bug pokemon.

"Revina, go for the noivern," Edwin ordered. "It's weakened right now."

Revina's wings vibrated rapidly as she sped towards the panting dragon, but the sableye leapt into the air in an attempt to stop the bug. Though he was also busy catching his breath, Poseidon still managed to shoot a weak blast of water at the sableye, knocking it out of the air and out of Revina's path.

As Revina neared the noivern, her stingers primed for attack, the red-haired woman shouted a command. "Use flamethrower! Put everything you have into it!"

To Edwin's surprise, the noivern opened its mouth and shot a stream of fire directly at Revina. Edwin's hand shot towards the beedrill's pokeball and he immediately recalled her as she became encased in flames. The noivern fell to the ground, panting heavily from the effort, but Edwin was still shocked that the dragon had managed two powerful attacks in a row. He underestimated his opponent, and his pokemon paid the price.

He grit his teeth and sent out his last pokemon, his ninetales named Elena. "Flamethrower, Elena!"

The ninetales looked back at him, disdain clear in her eyes. Instead of following her trainer's command, Elena did nothing and simply stared at the drained noivern and the little sableye. The ghost began cackling upon seeing the ninetales ignore her trainer and then charged at her.

As the sableye took a swipe at Elena, the ninetales leapt backwards and spat a stream of fire in order to deter the ghost. The sableye evaded the flamethrower and continued to chase after Elena. Edwin tried to call out orders, but it was futile. Elena wouldn't be listening to him anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Poseidon and the noivern were still trying to recover from their respective wounds. Eventually the noivern got back up and flapped its wings weakly, though it did manage to get back into the air after a few attempts.

Edwin noticed this and turned his attention away from his disobedient ninetales. "Poseidon, knock it out of the air!"

The swampert shot a weak water gun towards the noivern, but the dragon swung out of the way with a screech of surprise.

"Get that ninetales, Arminius!" Shouted the woman. The noivern screeched and dove at Elena and the sableye, both of whom were busy scratching at each other. The noivern gave another warning shriek as it approached, and the sableye darted out of the way as the dragon slammed into Elena's side.

"Poseidon, hit that sableye while it's distracted." Edwin watched as Poseidon shot a stronger blast of water at the sableye, this time making contact with the opponent and sending the ghost to the ground. Edwin figured that if Elena was going to ignore him, she would have to fight her own battle.

He briefly glanced over to where Elena and the noivern were and saw that the ninetales was desperately trying to scorch the dragon. The noivern, damaged as it was, was still easily avoiding Elena's rushed attacks and was constantly swooping downwards to attack. Elena was powerful, but her style of battling was not very intelligent.

"Elena, distance yourself from it! It's weakened already, make it work hard to hit you!" Edwin's advice fell on deaf ears, though, as Elena continued to shoot flamethrowers at the noivern from close-range, missing almost every time.

Edwin shook his head and turned back to Poseidon and the sableye. The red-haired woman was constantly shouting orders at the ghost, but the sableye was still unable to do much damage to the bulky swampert even when its hits made contact.

"Waterfall!" Edwin called out. Poseidon opened his mouth and shot another burst of water, but this time, the water fell back towards him and coated his body. The swampert then slammed into the sableye, sending it flying backwards.

"Now a mud bomb!" Edwin was determined not to let the quick sableye escape this time. Poseidon shot a compact mix of mud and water at the ghost, making contact with it as it struggled to recover from the close-range waterfall attack it took.

As the mud bomb burst over the sableye, it groaned in pain and then collapsed. The woman returned the sableye with a scowl, her blue eyes flashing with anger. Though Edwin saw that she had another pokeball on her belt, the woman did not release it and instead focused her attention on her noivern, who was soundly beating Elena.

"Poseidon, try a surf attack," Edwin suggested, and Poseidon shot another blast of water in the direction of the noivern. Instead of dodging, the noivern lifted the weakened Elena in its claws and took off towards the surf. As the water attack approached it, the noivern ascended slightly and let Elena take the brunt of the surf. The dragon then dropped the ninetales and flew higher as the fire type landed with a loud thud.

Edwin grimaced and recalled Elena. Both trainers were now down to their last pokemon, both of whom were extremely weakened.

"Stay away from it, Arminius," cautioned the woman. "It'll be easier for us if we stick to long-distance attacks."

Poseidon looked back at Edwin warily. Both trainer and pokemon knew that Poseidon's surf was getting weaker and more inaccurate due to fatigue, which left their long-range attacking options severely limited.

As Edwin contemplated his next move, the noivern let out a stream of purple-green flame that Poseidon just barely managed to dodge. The noivern circled around the swampert and tried another dragon breath, this time hitting Poseidon.

 _Damn it_ , thought Edwin. He still remembered how Poseidon fared against this tactic when he fought Winona. Things were not looking good for him. Another dragon breath hit Poseidon, and the swampert was fighting just to keep his legs from collapsing underneath him. _I've got to think of something, and fast._

Edwin's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud bang and a bright light, and he felt himself get thrown backwards as the blast reached him. When the dust cleared, Edwin saw that his opponent's noivern had been knocked out. Poseidon was miraculously still standing, though it looked as if a slight breeze would knock him out at this point.

Edwin then shifted his gaze to the source of the explosion which took place a few yards to his right. He saw the blonde woman taking shelter behind her glalie, which had fainted after taking the full hit of the blast. A seviper was also wrapped around the woman, protecting her from any serious damage.

He saw Faustina's gardevoir fall to the ground, her body shining a light pink sheen. He figured the gardevoir had been the one who caused the explosion. Faustina herself looked close to collapsing as well, and she was bleeding heavily from various wounds.

Suddenly, the blonde woman's seviper lashed out at Faustina, slashing her across the torso with its poisonous tail. Blood sprayed everywhere and Faustina fell.

"NO!" Shouted Edwin, and he turned back to Poseidon to try and get help to Faustina. However, as he looked back at his own battlefield, he saw the red-haired woman staring him down, a pistol in her hand.

Before Edwin could react, the woman fired. Edwin had not even noticed that Poseidon was already in motion before the woman pulled the trigger, and he was shocked and horrified when he saw his swampert take the bullet for him. The large water type slumped over, and Edwin lifted the last remaining ball on his belt.

Her threw the ultra ball without even thinking. He was in a sort of daze, and he was trying to discern if this was all real or whether he was just having a terrible nightmare. A red, humanoid thing appeared after a brief flash of white, and it immediately began its assault.

The red pokemon lifted the red-haired woman in the air with some sort of psychic power and then twisted her neck violently, killing her. It then tossed her body aside and turned towards the blonde woman, who was currently cowering behind her seviper. The snake tensed up and bared its fangs at the red psychic, but it was clearly afraid as well.

Edwin got a good look at the thing when it turned towards the blonde woman. Its face was a sort of teal color, and it had a line running down its face which split it in half. Its arms resembled two intertwined DNA strands, and it had a bright purple object lodged in its chest. The purple object in its chest glowed harshly as it lifted the woman and seviper with its psychic powers.

After a moment of levitating the two in mid-air, the strange pokemon flung them into the sky and away from the battlefield with a grating, metallic cry. When the red and blue pokemon saw that it had no more opponents left, it turned back towards Edwin and looked at him with its cold, sunken eyes. Edwin was finally snapped out of his trance and he fumbled for the ultra ball as he returned the creature.

When the pokemon was safely back inside the ultra ball, Edwin reluctantly surveyed the battlefield. Patches of the jungle grass and soil had been scorched by the various attacks, and a banana tree had fallen as well. Blood was everywhere, and three bodies lay motionless on the ground.

Edwin first approached Poseidon, who was lying face down. As the young trainer gingerly reached out towards the swampert, Poseidon stirred and pushed himself up so that his two back legs supported most of his weight.

"Poseidon... Y-you're alive?"

The swampert croaked weakly and blinked as he regained consciousness. Edwin saw that the bullet had lodged in Poseidon's stomach and had drawn a little bit of blood, but the swampert's thick skin had prevented any major damage from occurring. Edwin wrapped his arms around Poseidon in a relieved hug, and the swampert croaked lightly again and weakly patted his trainer on the back.

"Are you alright?" Edwin knew that it was a stupid question as soon as it came out of his mouth, but he felt like he had to ask it nonetheless.

Poseidon croaked a response and nodded, though Edwin could see that the swampert was still pretty weakened.

Edwin then made his way to Faustina, who was still lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from the seviper's vicious hit. As Edwin approached her, he saw that she was still alive. As he knelt down beside her, he found that his throat had tightened and that he could do nothing but stare at her dying form. His eyes watered and he tried to say something, but once again nothing came out.

"Edwin..." She choked out weakly as her blood continued to flow, staining the jungle grass red. "I... Tell Alfgar... I forgive him..." Her vivid violet eyes closed as she finished her broken sentence, and Edwin knew she was gone.

"Faustina..." He finally managed to utter, but it was too late. She was dead, and he was alone for the first time since he started his journey.

Poseidon came up behind him and put one of his large hands on his Edwin's shoulder. _No,_ Edwin thought, _I have never been alone._

"... We should bury her," he finally said after an eternity of silence. "Do you have enough strength left to dig?" He asked Poseidon. "This soil's really loose."

The swampert nodded in reply and began to dig a large hole in the ground. Edwin watched as Poseidon dug a deep hole in a matter of minutes, and he struggled to keep from bursting out in tears as his swampert carried Faustina's body into the grave. He helped Poseidon refill the grave with dirt, and he stood sadly over it as he held Faustina's pokeball belt in his hands.

"Thank you," he said to the grave. "For everything."

He tossed Faustina's pokeball belt into his pack where it came to rest next to the Blue Orb. He figured that it would be wrong to leave Faustina's pokemon in the jungle to rot, as they had been a large part of his journey as well. He wondered if any of them were still alive.

Edwin then walked over to the red-haired woman whose dead body was slumped over the fallen banana tree. Her neck was twisted at a sharp angle, and her blue eyes were frozen in fear and shock. She also had her pokeballs on her belt, but Edwin decided to leave them with their trainer's body. He wouldn't know what to do with them anyway, and if he released them they would probably try to kill him.

He then recalled Poseidon as the swampert was clearly on the verge of collapsing. As he clipped Poseidon's ball back to his belt, he glanced at the ultra ball. _What was that thing?_ He wondered. He guessed he would find out soon enough, as he still had to deliver the Orb and the ultra ball to Winona in Fortree. As he shouldered his pack and prepared to set off again, he remembered that he now had another task as well.

 _Alfgar..._

* * *

 _Dex entry #715: noivern_

 _"You think zubat are annoying? Well, let me tell you, once you encounter a noivern in a dank, dark cave, you will wish that you were fighting a horde of zubat." - James Rogers, famous spelunker_

 _Noivern are rare bat-like dragons that are found in tropical caves across the world. These pokemon rely on their sense of hearing and supersonic skills in order to locate their prey, as they primarily hunt at night. Though noivern are omnivores and do enjoy eating fruit, they have been known to attack and kill trainers and pokemon who wander too deeply into caves. Though small for a dragon pokemon, noivern are still very dangerous as they are capable of screeching loudly in order to disorient their opponents, leaving them open to be ravaged by the noivern's sharp claws. Noivern are considered a level three threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	12. Chapter 12

_A young trainer and his three pokemon sat around a campfire, their faces illuminated by the flames. The forest around them was dark and cold, but they seemed to be comfortable in each other's company._

 _The boy had tan skin and dark hair and eyes, and he held a stick on which a few pieces of meat were skewered. He handed the stick to the oshawott next to him, and the small water type squeaked in gratitude. He pulled another kebab off the campfire and gestured towards his pidove. The bird flew over and landed on his shoulder, chirping all the while. He grabbed another kebab from above the fire, but before he could do anything with it, a long, pink tongue reached out and tore it from his hands._

 _The young trainer groaned as the kecleon darted off into the woods with the kebab. "Why does he have to do this every time? I was going to give it to him anyway."_

 _The pidove chirped in distaste at the kecleon's actions, but the oshawott was too busy eating to notice what had happened. The boy sighed and pulled the last kebab from the fire, this time keeping it for himself._

 _As he tore into the tender meat, he heard a squawk of surprise and watched as the kecleon returned to the campfire, still holding the kebab. The lizard was being followed by a wild pidgey who was chasing the kecleon and pecking at him in anger. The kecleon ran circles around the fire, desperately trying to get rid of the pidgey, but to no avail._

 _The boy stared dumbfounded at the scene, but his oshawott began laughing, a high-pitched, infectious noise that invoked cheer in all those around to hear it. Soon enough the boy was chuckling as well, and the pidove eventually began laughing at the kecleon's antics too._

 _As the pidgey finally left the kecleon alone and the lizard collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, the laughter only increased. Mirth and joy radiated from the campfire, and suddenly the forest wasn't so dark and cold anymore._

* * *

Alfgar slowly willed himself awake as the sunlight came pouring in from the window in his room at the pokemon center. As he shuffled around and sat up, his hand brushed against something warm and furry. He turned to see his luxray asleep and taking up half the bed.

"At least he didn't kill anyone out of hunger..." Alfgar muttered to himself.

Luce's disturbing red and yellow eyes flashed open at the sound of Alfgar's voice, and the large lion sat up and fixed his gaze on his trainer.

 _"Good morning, Master,"_ he greeted, his tone mocking.

"Did you guys eat anything last night?" Alfgar asked as he saw that his glaceon and kecleon were still asleep.

 _"You forgot to feed us, I believe. I almost took matters into my own hands, but then I remembered how disappointed our Master would be if we killed another human."_

"Good thing you didn't," Alfgar replied as he got up from the bed. "You're lucky you didn't get caught last time."

Luce looked offended. _"I am not so stupid as to get caught. I know how to hunt."_

"Whatever," Alfgar said. "We'll go have breakfast in a few minutes. Wake Evenfall and Randy up," he told his luxray as he headed to the bathroom.

As he finished his business in the bathroom and reentered the room, Alfgar saw that Evenfall and Randy were both shouting at Luce. The luxray only grinned back at them, his fangs making his smile look eerily sinister.

"What's going on now?" Alfgar groaned.

 _"That damned cat just shocked us!"_ Evenfall complained.

Luce glanced at Alfgar with an amused glint in his eye. _"You told me to wake them up."_

Alfgar shook his head as he walked towards the window. He should have known that asking Luce was a bad idea. He peered outside as the pokemon continued to squabble. The sea around Pacifidlog was much more alluring in the daytime, and it shimmered as if it were made up of a thousand sapphires. He turned away from the beautiful view and back towards his pokemon.

"Shut up, all of you. We're going to the cafeteria for breakfast, and I don't want to deal with any of this fighting while we're in public."

He didn't wait for a response as he lifted his pack and walked out of the room. He heard his pokemon following behind, and Randy leapt at him and landed on his shoulder. Alfgar staggered a bit but managed to keep his footing.

"I told you to stop doing that," he said to his kecleon. "You're way too heavy." Randy only squawked loudly in his ear as a reply.

The group made their way down to the cafeteria and Alfgar ordered food for himself and his three pokemon. As he struggled to balance the trays, he saw Gary sitting at a booth table with his umbreon beside him.

Evenfall cried out in delight at seeing the umbreon and ran over to where Gary sat. Alfgar followed his glaceon, albeit more slowly, and sat down across from Gary.

"What's up?" Gary greeted as he watched his umbreon and Alfgar's glaceon talk excitedly to each other. "Looks like these two sure haven't forgotten each other," he noted.

Alfgar gingerly put the trays down as he sat next to Evenfall. "They are sisters, after all," he replied. Luce was too large to fit on the booth, so the luxray slunk underneath the table as Alfgar set the lion's food down.

"It feels like it's been forever since Gramps gave them to us. They went from little eevee to dragonslayers," Gary said with a grin.

"I guess. Where's Spencer?" Alfgar asked.

Gary shrugged. "Still asleep, probably. He went to the bar after dinner."

"We need to leave as soon as possible, so he's going to have to wake up soon," Alfgar replied, slightly irritated.

Randy reached his tongue across the table and grabbed one of Gary's syrup-coated pancakes from his plate, swallowing it in one fluid motion.

The Silver Champion glared at the kecleon. "You're lucky I was done with that."

After a few more minutes, Alfgar and his pokemon finished their breakfast and left the cafeteria with Gary and his umbreon. They headed to the main lobby of the center and picked up their pokemon they had left overnight to heal. Spencer eventually came down from his room as well, though he was complaining of a massive headache.

The three trainers left the pokemon center and went out into Pacifidlog Town. The town was much more lively in the daytime, and many people were out fishing and milling around. Gary had already secured tickets back to Jungle Harbor, so the group strolled through the town until the time came for their boat to depart.

The boat itself was small but fast, and it took the vessel about two and a half hours to reach Jungle Harbor. As the trio disembarked, Alfgar released his charizard and Spencer sent out his gyarados. Alfgar and Spencer knew the terrain well, and as a result, the group flew over the rainforest and descended at the exact spot where the base was cut into the side of the cliff.

The three trainers dismounted in front of the cliff, and Alfgar performed the customary series of knocks on the cliff face until a portion of it slid open and the entrance to the base was revealed to them. The short man once again greeted the returning men.

"There they are," he started with a wide grin on his face. "Our heroes. Come on in, boys."

As the three men walked into the base, the Brothers ceased what they were doing and began watching them. Alfgar strode to the front of the room.

"Brothers," he began. "We have captured Rayquaza." Cheers and yells erupted after he said this, though Alfgar's expression remained impassive. "I have bad news as well. Ogdun is dead, and Rayquaza won't just obey us blindly. We'll have to make him listen to reason, and we'll need to get him to fight for our cause."

"How do we do that?" One of the Brothers asked.

"I have a rough plan, though it's very dangerous. I propose we release Rayquaza from his ball outside of the base. He's weakened right now, so he won't be able to do much damage, and we'll all be there with our pokemon in case he tries something." Alfgar glanced at Spencer and Gary who stood beside him silently. Gary nodded his approval at the plan.

"Sounds good to me," the Kantonese trainer said. "If all of us go out there with all of our pokemon, Rayquaza will be too afraid to attack us."

"Alright then," Alfgar concluded. "No point in wasting time. Gather your pokeballs and meet me outside the base," he finished as he headed outside.

Alfgar stepped into the small clearing that lay in front of the base's entrance. The patch of jungle grass was surrounded by foliage and the cliff face, so Rayquaza would have nowhere to run but directly upwards. As Alfgar fingered the ultra ball, he heard the rest of the Brothers emerge from the base and assemble around him.

"Release some of your pokemon now," he said to the men as he tapped four of his own pokeballs.

Alfgar had sent out Luce, Apollo, Randy, and Evenfall to stand around him as he plucked Rayquaza's ultra ball from his belt. While he told his pokemon the plan, he heard various cries and roars sound around him as the men released their own pokemon in preparation. Soon enough, everything and everybody was in place, and Alfgar tossed Rayquaza's ball into the clearing.

The great green dragon emerged in a flash of bright white light. His long, serpentine form lay motionless on the ground as the light faded, though after a few seconds, Rayquaza lifted his head and neck to observe the army of pokemon and trainers that surrounded him. Despite his predicament, the Sky God smiled. His pink gums and his pointy teeth showed as he donned his sinister grin.

Alfgar was a bit unnerved by the legendary, but he found his voice and began speaking. "Rayquaza, you've been captured by us, the Brotherhood of the Black. You're weakened and surrounded on all sides by our pokemon, so there is no escape. Will you listen to what we have to say?"

Rayquaza's disturbing grin grew even wider. _"Am I supposed to fear you?"_

"Listen up, you dumbass," Gary shouted up at the legendary dragon. "We beat you with only twenty, and now we have at least triple that number. You better listen, or we'll make you listen."

Rayquaza laughed at the young champion, a harsh, grating sound. Alfgar took it upon himself to attempt to defuse the situation before Rayquaza actually got angry.

"We need your help," he said to the dragon. "We don't want to control you or tell you what to do. We want to work together with you."

Rayquaza's violent yellow eyes shifted to focus on Alfgar. _"Oh? Is that so? Humor me, then. What would you have me do?"_

Alfgar could tell that the dragon was not taking him seriously, but he continued on nonetheless. "We received an order from Arceus himself, telling us to get as many legendaries as we can on our side in preparation for the war that is to come. We need you to help us gather the other legendaries. It's Arceus' wish."

The large green dragon laughed again. _"Are you mad, human? Arceus? When has Arceus ever taken interest in the lives of mortals? You are spouting nonsense, and wasting my time as well."_

"It's true," Alfgar insisted, "we all dreamt the same dream. Arceus appeared to us and ordered us to do this." He glanced back at the Brothers, who nodded in agreement.

 _"You are delusional, all of you, just like those Magma and Aqua fools. You think a god appeared to you? No. Gods do not deign to speak to mere mortals."_

"You're talking with us right now," Alfgar countered.

 _"Only because you went through so much effort to shove me into one of those balls. I underestimated you, and now I am paying the price for it because I have to listen to your nonsense. Still, do not mistake me, human. I may be weakened and you may outnumber me, but I am far more dangerous than you believe me to be."_

Alfgar couldn't tell whether Rayquaza was bluffing or not, but he decided to play it safe either way. "We're not forcing you to do anything; we're asking you. We just need your help."

Rayquaza stared at him with a strange look in his yellow eyes. _"Alright, human, suppose Arceus did appear to you, and suppose he did order you to gather the legendaries. What then? And how many legendaries do you need? Only the ones in Hoenn, or from every region? You must see that your 'divine orders' do not make any sense."_

"I... I don't know. All I know is what I was told by Arceus. I know it was Him, and I know He needed us. Rayquaza, you may have underestimated us or you may have been holding back, but we still managed to beat you in a battle that you yourself said was unfair towards us. Will you help us with this?"

 _"... We shall see. What would you want of me, specifically?"_

"We're thinking about going after Groudon next," Alfgar replied, relieved that Rayquaza had actually decided to listen. "We have the Red Orb, but with your help, the fight would be a lot easier."

 _"The Red Orb? You have it? Hmm... I suppose I could lend you my assistance. However, it will be under my terms. First, I will not be held in that ball any longer. I must destroy it."_

Alfgar hesitated. "Where would you stay, then? We can't exactly hide you in this jungle the whole time."

Rayquaza lowered his long neck and reached one of his arms up to his head. He grabbed one of his horns and tore off the tip and tossed it to Alfgar.

 _"It will grow back,"_ he said after seeing Alfgar's surprised expression. _"If you set that on fire, I will come to you immediately. Use it to call me when you require my assistance. Now, the ball."_

Alfgar threw the ultra ball up towards Rayquaza and watched as the legendary dragon's jaws closed around the ball, shattering it.

 _"Now then, I must be going."_ Rayquaza lifted himself off the ground and began to fly up and out of the jungle.

"Wait!" Shouted Alfgar, and the green dragon snaked his head back downwards to look at the dark-haired soldier. "The metagross who was with us, he said that a group of people came to capture you before we did. Who were they?"

 _"I do not know. People arrive all the time to attempt to catch me, and they all fail. This group was no exception. I killed all of them, save for that damn metagross. He escaped and came back with you, and you are lucky he did."_

Alfgar took in Rayquaza's words. _Steelshanks was with the previous group?_

"What did they look like?" Alfgar asked. "Were they from the government?"

 _"No. They did not wear the same uniform as the soldiers that the government have sent in the past. They wore all black, and they had a red letter 'R' written on their chests,"_ Rayquaza replied.

 _Team Rocket,_ Alfgar thought, _they must have been hired by the Hoennese government._ "Alright, thank you for your help, Rayquaza."

The dragon's eye glinted, and then he took off, disappearing into the sky. Alfgar looked up and watched Rayquaza leave, wondering if he made the right decision by letting Rayquaza go.

"Are you insane!" Gary yelled at him. "You're just going to let him leave like that?"

Alfgar turned to face Gary. "What else could I have done? We can't really force him to do anything if he doesn't want to. We need his help, and we can only accomplish that through mutual respect, something you seem to lack."

"How do you know that the horn he gave you actually works? He could have tricked you and then just escaped. That was our one legendary, and now he's gone," Gary fumed.

"I had to trust him. I had to."

With that, Alfgar recalled his pokemon and stormed past Gary. He walked back into the base and sat down on one of the beds. The other Brothers soon followed him in, and the base was once again filled with chatter, most of it centered around Rayquaza. Gary sulked in a corner with his umbreon, not sharing the men's excitement at seeing the legendary pokemon.

As the day went on and night came, the Brothers continued to talk and fool around as Alfgar lay in his bed resting his eyes. He let out all of his pokemon except for Apollo and Odin, and his traitorous glaceon had gone over to Gary's umbreon to talk with her. Luce snored quietly under the bed, and Randy darted among the Brothers and stole food from the long table as often as he could.

Alfgar finally got up from the bed and stretched for a bit before heading over to the table where most of the men sat. Dinner tonight was roasted swellow with a side of tropius bananas, and Alfgar took a plate full and headed over to the end of the table where Stoke the Viper sat by himself.

Stoke was a cold, ruthless, and pragmatic killer who preferred to work alone. Alfgar sat across from the muscular, bearded man, and Stoke's gray eyes flicked upwards for moment as he noticed Alfgar. The Viper had his combat knife out and was carving something on the skull of a sawsbuck.

"Stoke," Alfgar greeted.

"Commander," the man replied gruffly. His eyes remained focused on his carving, his large knife gleaming in the dim light of the base.

"What did you think of Rayquaza?" Alfgar asked. Stoke was probably the best soldier in the group, and Alfgar wondered if the battle-hardened man would agree with his decision or whether he preferred Gary's idea.

Stoke still did not look up from the skull and the knife. "Big. Powerful."

Alfgar paused for a moment. "Did you think we made the right decision by letting him go?"

"We didn't make any decisions, Commander, _you_ did." The knife made a dull scratching noise as it carved into the skull.

"... Alright... Well, did you think that Rayquaza was telling the truth? About the horn and everything, I mean. You think he'll come back and help us when we need him?"

"No." Stoke finally looked up from the skull and stared at Alfgar with his hard gray eyes. "But I don't think there's anything else you could have done."

Alfgar nodded. "Glad you see it my way."

He finished the rest of his dinner in silence and then headed back to his bed. Luce was still asleep under the bed and his other two pokemon were somewhere in the base, so Alfgar lay down and closed his eyes. The last few days had been taxing, and Alfgar took all the rest he could get. If they were going to go after the other legendaries soon, he had a feeling that he wouldn't get much sleep in the future.

* * *

Alfgar awoke with a start as he heard shouting and the whir of helicopter blades. He leapt to his feet and saw that the rest of the Brothers were also getting up, their guns and pokeballs in hand. Luce slunk out from underneath Alfgar's bed and grinned excitedly, and Randy and Evenfall also jumped down from his bed. Gary approached Alfgar, his umbreon trailing closely behind and his face serious.

"What's going on?" Alfgar asked, still groggy from sleep.

"Helicopters and soldiers are outside. They're saying they're from Unova, and they're telling us to come out."

"How do they even know we're in here?"

Gary shrugged. "I don't know, but it sounds like there's a lot of them outside. They said that if we don't open up, they'll have to blast the cliff face."

Alfgar cursed under his breath. "Jet, open the door!" He shouted as he struggled to make his voice heard over the cacophony. "Nobody shoot unless they shoot first!"

The short man ran over to the entrance and undid a series of latches. He then slid open the door to reveal a group of about twenty soldiers in the clearing in front of the base. A large carrier helicopter had landed behind the group, and four other smaller helicopters were present as well. The soldiers were all armed with assault rifles and pokeballs, though none of them made a move to fire at the men inside the base.

The soldiers all wore jungle camouflage, though they also had a stripe of royal purple on their shoulders, marking them as Unovan soldiers. Alfgar stepped closer to the entrance, and one of the Unovan soldiers entered the base.

Raising his hand to show that he meant no harm, the Unovan soldier began speaking. "This is the Brotherhood of the Black, correct?"

None of the men replied, leaving it up to Alfgar to respond. "How did you find us?"

The Unovan soldier ignored the question. "My name is Lieutenant Burnside. We're your exfil squad," he said as he grinned.

No one spoke for a long moment.

"You're a bit late," quipped Sven.

"I know, I know," replied Lieutenant Burnside as he put his hands down. "But we're here now. You boys are going home."

The Brothers began muttering, and Alfgar once again raised his voice to speak. "How come you're here now? Why does Unova suddenly care about us?"

"It's a long story, but I can give you the short version. You know that Unova and Hoenn have declared war on each other?" Burnside continued after Alfgar nodded. "Well, that gives us the perfect opportunity to come and rescue you guys. We couldn't exactly send a team into Hoenn before without raising suspicion."

Alfgar was still skeptical. "So Unova's decided to invade? The invasion has started?"

"Kind of. I can't really go into much detail right now, but if you'll come with me, we can get you guys loaded onto the choppers and get you out of here!" Lieutenant Burnside raised his voice so that all the men could hear him.

The Brothers cheered and began shuffling out of the base, ignoring Alfgar's protests.

"Wait! What about our mission? What if it's a trap?" Alfgar was not a trusting person, and he still had his doubts.

Gary walked up beside him. "I don't think it's a trap, Alfgar. They would have already started attacking by now if it were."

Alfgar stared dumbly as the Brothers left the base and grabbed their supplies, abandoning him and Arceus' mission after a few words from a soldier they had never met before in their lives.

Soon enough the Brothers had all packed into the carrier helicopter and some of the other smaller ones with the rest of the Unovan soldiers. Only Alfgar, his pokemon, Gary and his umbreon, and Lieutenant Burnside remained in the base.

"Come on. We should be leaving," Burnside said as he exited the base. Alfgar reluctant followed.

"You two can ride with me," Burnside said as he stepped into one of the smaller helicopters. "You'll have to recall your pokemon, though. We don't have enough room."

Alfgar and Gary recalled their pokemon as they entered the helicopter. Alfgar had to admit that it didn't look like a trap, and that it appeared as if the soldiers were actually here to return them to Unova. As the two strapped themselves into the helicopter and the pilot began to take off, Burnside looked at Gary with a confused look.

"You look really familiar," he said to Gary. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."

"I'm Gary Oak," Gary replied, seemingly excited at finally being recognized. "Silver Champion in the Indigo League. You probably saw me on TV or something."

Burnside nodded. "Yep, that's it. Why are you here, though?"

"We're all here for the same purpose," Alfgar interrupted. "But I've got some questions of my own first. A few days ago I was attacked by a couple Unovan agents, and now I'm being taken home by Unovan soldiers. Why the sudden change in attitude?"

Burnside's brow furled in confusion. "I don't know what you mean. What agents?"

"They were Ghosts," Alfgar replied, referring to the name of a group of elite operatives in the Unovan military.

"Ghosts? I'm afraid that's above my paygrade. You'll have to ask someone else about that," said Burnside.

"Like who? Do you have a commanding officer? Where exactly are we going?"

"We're heading to our base on Delgradde Island, about an hour and a half away from here. I'm sure you're familiar with it; it's where you left from when you went on Operation Iridescent. General Blackstone is there, and I'm sure he'll be able to give you more answers than I can," explained Burnside.

"Fine," Alfgar spat. He still didn't entirely trust the man. "What now?"

Burnside put on a pair of military-style headphones and leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes and made himself comfortable. "Just enjoy the ride."

* * *

The Unovan base on Delgradde Island wasn't very big, and it hadn't changed much since the last time Alfgar had been there. The only differences were that there were a few more soldiers patrolling the area and that more ships and planes were docked in and around the island.

The island itself was small as well, and most of it was taken up by the base. Only small patches of the tropical jungle remained, but the air was just as humid and as hot as any part of the Hoennese rainforest.

The Brothers and the soldiers were sent to the mess hall as they dismounted, and a serving of pasta and potatoes was given to each man. Alfgar and Gary sat alone at the edge of one of the tables, the former still angry about the whole situation.

"It's as if they completely forgot about our purpose in Hoenn," he was saying to Gary. "They don't even care anymore. Johnny and Ogdun didn't die for this."

Spencer overheard the conversation and slid over to the two trainers. "Relax, Alfgar. We haven't forgotten, but we could use a rest. These guys haven't seen their homes or their families in years. What do you expect?"

"This is more important."

Spencer shook his head. "Are you seriously telling me that you would rather hunt legendaries than go back to your family and rest for a while? You need to lighten up." He got up and left, heading back towards the main group where the soldiers were laughing and talking among themselves.

Alfgar sighed. "They just don't understand."

"He's right, though," Gary said between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. "Not even Arceus could stop these men from wanting to see their families again. And you do need to lighten up."

Just as Alfgar was about to respond, one of the Unovan soldiers came up to the two trainers.

"Sorry to interrupt, but General Blackstone requires your presence in the war room," he said to Alfgar.

"I'm coming too," Gary told the soldier as he got up to join Alfgar.

"I don't know if..."

"It's no use arguing with him," Alfgar interrupted. "Lead the way."

Alfgar and Gary followed the soldier down a long hallway and into a large, dimly-lit room. Inside the room was a huge table with all kinds of different maps on top of it. A tall, stocky, old man stood at the head of the table.

"Ah, you must be Alfgar. And who might you be?" He asked, addressing Gary.

"Gary Oak," the brown-haired trainer replied haughtily.

The general squinted. "Samuel Oak's grandson? What are you doing here?"

Alfgar explained everything to General Blackstone, and when he finished the old man stared at him incredulously.

"Son, that is a load of tauros shit you just spouted there."

Alfgar clenched his teeth, though he didn't really expect the general to believe him anyway. "We did catch Rayquaza. I have proof." He pulled out the tip of Rayquaza's horn and showed it to General Blackstone.

"That? That could be anything," replied the general. "Anyway, I don't care what you think you may have seen or what you supposedly captured. I have a mission for you and for your friend if he wants it."

Alfgar decided he would hear the general out, though he planned to get back to his own mission as soon as possible. Since he was trapped inside the Unovan military base, he thought it best not to act up and disobey orders as long as the general had an entire battalion under his command.

"I need you two to go to Undella Town," Blackstone continued. "You are to meet with someone very important, and you are to listen to her plans and negotiate with her and the others you will meet there. It's a sort of diplomatic mission, and based on your history, Alfgar, I think you're perfect for the job. Oak, I can't really make you do anything, but you can tag along if you want."

Gary grinned. "Undella Town? I'm in."

General Blackstone nodded. "Alright, then. You two will leave tomorrow. For now, you're welcome to use any of the facilities here. I'll have rooms prepared for you in the barracks."

As Alfgar and Gary turned to leave, the general called out to them again.

"Alfgar? Don't screw this up. We're giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Take it."

* * *

 _Dex entry #197: umbreon_

 _"It's common knowledge not to go deep into a forest during a full moon. You've got to watch out for killer houndoom and vicious mightyena, but the real threat that no one ever sees coming is the umbreon. They're quiet and almost invisible in the dark, and once you see those glowing rings, you're done." - Sidney Obscurus, Hoenn League Elite Four member_

 _Umbreon are rare eeveelutions found in forests across the world. Their most prominent feature is their coat, which contains a pattern of rings which glow in the dark. Though these pokemon tend to avoid humans, they become restless on full moons and their powers are greatly increased. Umbreon are nocturnal pokemon and prefer to hunt under the cover of night, but trained umbreon are often forced to battle during the day and eventually acclimate to sunlight. Umbreon are considered a level two threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	13. Chapter 13

Alfgar and Gary stepped out of the military jeep and turned to face the gates of Undella Town. As the jeep started up again and drove off, Alfgar turned to admire the resort town. He had been to Undella a couple times before, but it was Gary's first time in the beach town. The two glanced at each other, Alfgar apprehensive and Gary excited, and then walked through the gates and into Undella.

The sun shone brightly above the small town, but the heat was nothing compared to the humidity found in the Hoennese jungle. Undella was mostly composed of villas and small shops, and almost all of the buildings were right up against the beach. The water was a sparkling blue color, and Alfgar was reminded of the sea surrounding Pacifidlog. Undella was full of rich people and well-off vacationers, and many famous stars often visited.

Alfgar shifted his large pack as he follows Gary to the villa they were supposed to be staying at. Back at the military base Alfgar had taken a much-needed shower and had replaced his old, smelly, ratty military garb for a new set of clothes more suited for a regular trainer. He now wore long black traveling pants and a dark, loose, forest-green long sleeve. He wore brown hiking boots as well, and his five pokeballs hung from his belt. A pair of silver aviators were clipped to the collar of his shirt incase the sunlight got too bright. His long, shaggy, black hair was still as wild as usual, and his deep brown eyes squinted under the glare of the sun.

Gary had also showered and cleaned himself up at the base, but his clothing was deemed appropriate for the mission and General Blackstone did not make him replace it. Gary stuck to his dark blue long sleeve, his black traveling pants, and his brown boots. Gary had sunglasses as well, but he actually put them on instead of clipping them to his shirt. His outfit was very similar to Alfgar's, and the two together looked like nothing more than a pair of regular trainers. Only Gary's five silver pokeballs indicated that the pair were anything out of the ordinary.

"This should be it," announced Gary at he arrived at a large mansion located only a few yards from the beach. "Damn. It's pretty nice."

Nice was an understatement. The house was huge and luxurious, and though the property lacked a proper front yard, it did have a deck which overlooked the beach. A pair of ornate ivory pillars supported the front of the house, and Alfgar marveled at the architecture as he and Gary walked up to the massive front doors. The two doors were made out of finely-polished, deep-red wood, and a golden doorknob was attached to each one.

"Should we knock first?" Asked Alfgar as he saw Gary pull the set of keys Blackstone had given them out of his pocket.

"Why? We've got the keys," was Gary's reply as he unlocked the door and strode into the foyer.

Alfgar followed Gary into the house and was struck by the beauty of the place. The foyer was spacious and made out of clean, white tile, and a grandiose chandelier hung from the ceiling. In the back of the foyer was a pair of wooden staircases which reached up to the upper levels of the house. Alfgar could hear the faint sound of classical music drifting through the halls.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Gary yelled into the massive foyer. Only his echoes answered him. He turned to Alfgar. "Guess she's not home." He then made his way to the family room that was adjacent to the foyer, and Alfgar had no choice but to follow.

The family room was just as luxurious as the foyer, if not more so. A dark, hardwood floor lay underneath Alfgar's boots, and he took his footwear off as he realized that he was probably tracking in dirt. The walls were painted a dull white, and two sets of doors connected the family room to the deck that hung out over the golden beach. A large plasma screen television was mounted on one the far right wall, and a big, expensive-looking sofa sat across from it.

Gary strolled over to the sofa and nonchalantly tossed his pack onto the furniture. He then sat down and put his boots up on the elegant coffee table that lay in front of the sofa. Alfgar cringed as he watched Gary shuffle through the magazines and objects on the table as if he owned the place. Soon enough, Gary grabbed the remote that rested on the table and turned the TV on, flipping through channels as he used his other hand to release his umbreon.

"What?" Gary asked as he noticed Alfgar staring at him. "That old general dude told us to make ourselves at home."

His umbreon mewled in agreement and padded off as she began to explore the room. After sniffing around for a couple of seconds, the umbreon walked over to Alfgar and began pawing lightly at his leg.

"What?" He asked it.

The umbreon mewled in reply and stood on her back legs as she lightly tapped one of Alfgar's pokeballs.

"Oh, you want me to release Evenfall?"

The umbreon mewled happily and nodded her head.

He plucked his glaceon's ball from his belt and lightly tossed it into the air, sending Evenfall out to join her sister. The glaceon purred at seeing the umbreon, and the two of them padded off together. Alfgar then heard the telltale sound of a pokeball opening and saw Gary releasing the rest of his pokemon.

Alfgar lifted two more pokeballs off his belt and sent out Luce and Randy. He figured that it would be cruel to have his pokemon cooped up in their balls for two long. The luxray and kecleon surveyed their surroundings before heading off in different directions.

"Try not to break anything!" Alfgar warned. He didn't want to have their host come back and see her villa trashed.

He fingered his two remaining pokeballs and considered releasing them as well, but ultimately decided against it. Apollo and Odin would definitely wreck something if he let them out now.

Alfgar strode towards the deck and admired the view. The sea rippled calmly under the warm afternoon sun, and the golden sand glittered enticingly. Suddenly he heard the telltale clacking sound of heels on wood, and he turned around to see a woman enter the room.

Cynthia Platinum was her name, and she definitely lived up to the tales of her beauty. She was a tall woman with long, silky, blonde hair, and she was dressed in all black. Her silver eyes glanced at Gary, Alfgar, and their pokemon, though Alfgar found it impossible to discern whether she felt amused or annoyed at seeing how comfortable the two had made themselves. Before either Alfgar or Gary could react, Cynthia spoke.

"Hello, and welcome to my villa. You two must be Alfgar the Wild and Gary Oak, correct?" Her voice was smooth and calming, and Alfgar felt a sense of relief after Cynthia made it clear that she wasn't angry.

"Yep, that's us," Gary answered as he blatantly checked out Cynthia. "I'm the famous Gary Oak, and that dark and handsome guy over there is Alfgar."

Alfgar nodded in greeting. "It's nice to finally meet you, Cynthia."

Cynthia smiled. "Yes, and I'm glad you two have made yourselves at home. As long as you're my guests here, this villa is as much yours as it is mine."

"Thank you," Alfgar said as he cleared his throat. "General Blackstone said something about a meeting with some diplomats?"

Gary groaned. "There you go again, always business and no pleasure. We're in a villa in Undella, for Arceus' sake. Can't we enjoy ourselves for at least one day?"

He glared at Gary; they weren't here for 'pleasure' at all, and Blackstone had given them specific orders. Alfgar didn't want to spend any more time in Undella than he needed to. After all, he had a more important job to do.

"The meeting isn't for two days, so we have time," Cynthia said, interrupting Alfgar's thoughts. "Please, feel free to enjoy yourselves in the meantime. There's a pool in the villa and all sorts of game rooms, but if you prefer the beach, then it's right next door."

"Thank you. At least someone understands," Gary replied as he gave Alfgar a disapproving look.

"Whatever. I'm going for a walk, unless you guys have something else planned," Alfgar decided as he called over his pokemon.

Gary continued to watch television, ignoring Alfgar, but Cynthia shook her head.

"Undella's a beautiful town. Please, go ahead and have a look around," she said.

Alfgar nodded and left the villa with his three pokemon following closely behind.

"Is he always like that?" Cynthia asked Gary as she watched Alfgar leave.

"Hm? Like what?"

"He looks angry and sulky. He's very rigid," she observed as she took a seat next to Gary on the large sofa.

"Oh, that. Yeah, nowadays he's like that more often than not. He's had a lot of shit happen to him in the past, so it's probably fucked with his mind," Gary explained as he nonchalantly cursed in the presence of a champion. Cynthia, however, seemed unperturbed.

"Tell me about him. What's he like?"

Gary turned to face Cynthia. "Why do you want to know about him? I'm much more interesting, I can assure you," he said with a cocky smirk.

Cynthia's face didn't change at all. "I know about you already. Alfgar, though... I've only heard bits and pieces about him, but what I've heard is interesting. I would like to know more."

Gary sighed. "Alright, fine. Alfgar... How do I describe him? He's quiet, I guess, and reserved, but he won't hesitate to fight if you get on his bad side. He's cold, ruthless, smart, and like you said, kind of rigid. Apart from me and maybe Red, I don't think he has many friends."

Cynthia blinked as she took the information in. "And you say he was always this way?"

Gary sighed again. "Not really, actually. You've heard about the Unova Incident, right?"

Cynthia nodded, and Gary continued.

"Well, before all that, Alfgar was pretty normal. He was an easy-going, lazy, and slightly awkward trainer who got really competitive during battles. I met him back then, and he was actually pretty fun to hang around. Now, though... He's changed a lot, but I can understand why."

Cynthia stared at Gary thoughtfully with her strange silver eyes. "Thank you, Gary Oak." She then got up and left, making Gary wonder why she was so interested in Alfgar.

* * *

"I can't believe this. What are we supposed to do here? Sit and around and soak in the sunshine?" Alfgar complained to his three pokemon.

 _"Sounds fine to me,"_ Evenfall countered.

 _"I thought you ice types disliked warm areas,_ " Luce replied as he gazed hungrily at a nearby wingull.

"The point is that we have something else we should be doing," Alfgar continued. "I'm not here to take a fucking vacation."

The four were sitting at a small table outside a beachside cafe. Randy was asleep on the table while Luce and Evenfall were curled up on the ground beside their trainer's feet.

"Fuck Cynthia, and fuck General Blackstone. Fuck the Brothers, and fuck the war. I finally get the chance to do something important, and these goddamn idiots force me to negotiate with some diplomats. What do I look like, some peacekeeper?" Alfgar ranted, unaware that his pokemon weren't really listening anymore.

Alfgar then stayed silent for a few minutes, occasionally sipping the ice-cold water bottle he bought in the cafe in order to cool himself down. His three pokemon remained relatively quiet. _At least they're enjoying themselves_ , he thought bitterly.

Suddenly, Luce perked up and lifted his head from the ground. His nose twitched and his mouth curled up in a sinister smile. _"The blonde champion approaches."_

Alfgar glanced over to where Luce was looking and saw Cynthia, her magnificent blonde hair glowing in the sunlight. She had taken off her black coat, but she still wore a dark long sleeve and black pants.

"Do you mind if I sit?" She asked, gesturing towards the empty seat next to Alfgar.

"Go right ahead," he replied. He eyed the woman cautiously. What could she possibly want with him?

"Thank you," she said as she sat down. She looked at him with her shining platinum eyes. "I've heard a lot about you, Alfgar."

He took another drink of his water before speaking. "Oh really? Like what?" He had a feeling that what she heard couldn't have been very good.

"I heard about your role in the Unovan Incident," she said bluntly.

Alfgar stiffened slightly. "... And?"

"And nothing. I just thought it was very interesting."

His eyes narrowed. " _Interesting?_ That's it?"

"Well... Yes. I'm very fond of myths and tales of heroism, so naturally I was captivated with the story of how a handful of trainers, along with the help of Zekrom, defeated Team Plasma and Reshiram. Hilda and Hilbert are famous across the region now, and N as well. You, however... Few talk about you, and when they do, they don't have much good to say."

Alfgar squeezed the water bottle as he felt Evenfall stir at his feet. He grit his teeth. "You think I don't know that? I know I failed. If Hilbert and Hilda hadn't shown up, Unova would have been destroyed for sure."

Cynthia's silver eyes continued to bore into his deep brown ones. "Did you really fail, though? You did all you could, and you arguably paid a heavier price than anyone else."

He averted his gaze and settled his eyes on Randy's sleeping figure. "That's not what everyone else thinks," he said quietly.

Cynthia reached out her hand and put it on top of Alfgar's, causing him to look up in surprise.

"I know," she said, "but sometimes it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks."

She got up and left the table, leaving Alfgar alone with his pokemon and his thoughts. _She doesn't blame me for what happened? The Sinnoh Champion..._ Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Edwin staggered into Fortree, finally emerging from the dense jungle and into the enormous clearing which held the city. Poseidon slowly crawled along beside him.

"Finally," he said weakly as the familiar wooden huts and spicy scents greeted him. Poseidon croaked deeply, sharing Edwin's sentiment.

The two made their way to the Pokemon Center and booked a room. Edwin returned his swampert and handed in all six of his pokeballs to the nurse, but the ultra ball stayed clipped to his belt. He then left the center after having a brief meal and headed in the direction of the Fortree Gym, the weight of the Blue Orb heavy in his bag.

He entered the gym and saw the same receptionist at the desk. The gym itself was just as hot and humid as before, and Edwin lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from his brown as he walked over to the welcome desk.

"Hi," he greeted. "I need to see Winona. I have an urgent message from the Mossdeep Space Center."

The receptionist looked up lazily. "Do you have an appointment?"

"... No. But it's important!" Edwin insisted.

The receptionist yawned. "I'm sorry, you need an appointment."

Edwin frowned. He didn't come all the way here to be rebuffed at the welcome desk. He took his pack of his back and shuffled through it before picking out the Feather Badge.

"I have this! Doesn't this count for something?"

The receptionist watched as the light bounced off the cyan-colored piece of metal. "Fine. Winona's in her office, and since you have the badge, I'm assuming you know where that is. Don't disturb any of the gym trainers."

Edwin nodded and walked over to the back of the gym, careful to avoid the flying types and trainers who flew and fought on the numerous battlefields scattered throughout the building. Edwin knocked on the office door and heard a muffled "Come in!"

He entered the room and saw Winona sitting at her desk. A large swellow was perched in front of her, and it was eating birdseed out of the gym leader's hand. Winona still wore that same strange aviation suit, but she had taken her helmet off and her lavender hair cascaded down her shoulders. She glanced briefly at Edwin before turning back to the swellow.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" She asked as the bird pokemon pecked at her hand.

"My name is Edwin. I won the badge from you a short while back," he replied as he set his pack down.

"Ah, yes. You're the trainer with the strong pidgeotto. You've done very well with that pokemon, I can say that much. What brings you in today?" She swiveled in her chair to focus on Edwin.

The young trainer flinched as he looked into her purple orbs, Winona's eyes reminding him of Faustina's. "In have a delivery from the Mossdeep Space Center." He pulled out the Blue Orb and handed it over to Winona.

The gym leader's eyes widened as she took the Orb. "This is... How... You came from Mossdeep, correct?"

Edwin nodded. "My father is Commander Leonard Willow."

"Really? I thought the last name was just a coincidence. In any case, I was expecting this; I just didn't expect it from a lone trainer instead of a military escort." Winona rubbed her hand along the Blue Orb's surface, her eyes sparkling in wonder.

Edwin sat down in the seat across the desk from Winona. "There were two of us, actually, but we ran into some trouble." He told Winona everything that had happened, though he left out the part about the strange pokemon.

"Wow. Do you know who they were?" Winona asked after Edwin had finished retelling the events in the jungle.

Edwin shrugged. "No. I think they were from Unova, though. Who else could want the Orbs?"

Winona nodded. "Maybe. Thank you for bringing this to me. Did your father give you any other instructions?"

He was about to shake his head, but then he remembered the ultra ball. He unclipped it and handed it to Winona.

The flying-type gym leader looked at the ball quizzically before placing it on her desk. "What's this? I don't remember anyone telling me I would be getting an ultra ball."

"I don't know exactly what it is. It contains a really powerful pokemon, though, so I'd only use it in emergencies if I were you." That was what his dad had told him, anyway. He thought it best to leave out the part where he had used the pokemon to kill another person.

Winona eyed the ultra ball cautiously. "Alright, then. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." She nodded thankfully towards Edwin, and the swellow squawked something out as well.

Edwin said his goodbyes and then got up and headed towards the door. He felt naked without his pokemon, and he didn't want to be near the Blue Orb anymore, or the strange, deadly pokemon inside the ultra ball.

By the time Edwin arrived at the Pokemon Center, the sun was on the verge of setting and the shadows of the buildings and people were elongated. He entered the red-roofed center and strode to the front desk. He asked about the health of his pokemon, and the nurse gave him a strange look.

"Most of your pokemon are fine, but your ninetales suffered a few broken ribs and some internal bleeding. Your electabuzz has severe burns on its face, and both pokemon will need to remain overnight in intensive care."

"B-but they'll be fine in the end, right?" Edwin asked desperately.

"The damage to your ninetales can be repaired, but she won't be able to battle for a while. Your electabuzz, however... I'm afraid that the burns are too severe. He will survive, but I would guess that he will lose sight in his left eye," the nurse said as she handed four of Edwin's pokeballs back.

Edwin's face fell. _It could be worse_ , he reminded himself. He thanked the nurse and then went over to one of the computers in the lobby. He sat down and booted it up. As he navigated to the search engine, he struggled to recall what Faustina had asked of him before she died.

 _She wanted to forgive someone, but who? Elfgon, was it? No... Maybe Alfie. Alfgar! That's it._ He began typing the name into the search engine, though he thought he had already heard it before somewhere. As he watched the screen with bated breath, he suddenly remembered where he heard the name. The man they met in Lilycove, at the ancient church; that was Alfgar.

He tried to recall how the man looked. Tan skin, black hair, brown eyes, muscular, dressed in all black... But who was he? How did Faustina know him? Why did she come all the way to Hoenn to look for him? Too many questions remained unanswered. He turned his attention back to the screen and scrolled through the search results.

Nothing. Sure, there were plenty of links, but none of them seemed promising. He remedied his search to 'Alfgar Unova' and started over. More links came up this time, but Edwin didn't know exactly what he was looking for. He shrugged to himself and clicked on the first link.

The link lead to a list of all trainers entering the Unova League Tournament for the year 3017. _A tournament held five years ago? What does this have to do with Alfgar?_ Edwin scrolled down and read over the list of names. He stopped when he got to someone named 'Ragnar Berlitz.' The name meant nothing to him, though the first name was strange and the last name was vaguely familiar. However, what interested him most was the middle name.

Alfgar.

 _Could this be him?_ Edwin clicked on the name and was redirected to a page with a picture of a young man. The man certainly looked familiar, as he had black hair, deep brown eyes, and tan skin. The young man was looking directly into the camera, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

It had to be him. Edwin looked at the small biography that was present next to the image. It appeared that this Alfgar was born in Nuvema Town, and that he was eighteen years of age when the tournament took place. The biography also listed his eight badges and some of his pokemon. Edwin remembered that he saw a charizard with Alfgar, but only a charmeleon was listed under his ownership for the tournament. _Must've evolved..._

Edwin backed out of the website until he was back at the search results. Now that he had a little more information, he could narrow down his search. He clicked on one of the links on the search results page and was lead to a written-up news report. As he scanned through it, Edwin saw that it detailed the Unova Incident and Team Plasma. He already knew all about that, so he skimmed some more. However, he stopped when he saw a familiar name.

Ragnar Alfgar Berlitz was mentioned in the article, though only briefly. The report said that Alfgar had fought against Team Plasma and someone named N and had attempted to hold them off until Hilda and Hilbert, the saviors of Unova, arrived. The article also said that Alfgar had failed, and that he was crushed by Team Plasma. It then went on to describe Hilda and Hilbert's heroics, though that was common knowledge and Edwin decided to stop reading at that point. He searched through a few more links but came up with no new information.

He shut off the computer and rubbed his eyes. As he headed up to his room, he thought about Alfgar. Who was he? Why was he in Hoenn? What role did he play in the Unova Incident?

Edwin yawned tiredly as he walked into his room and lay down on the bed. He figured that his pokemon were better off resting in their balls, so he kicked off his shoes and took of his jacket and then curled up in between the sheets. As he drifted off to sleep, he remembered Faustina's last request.

 _Faustina... I won't fail you. I will find Alfgar, I promise._

* * *

 _Dex entry #697: tyrantrum_

 _"Back when tyrantrum used to roam the earth, they were feared as the most dangerous predator on the planet. However, nowadays tyrantrum faces competition from other threats, namely humans. Though tyrantrum are no longer kings of the food chain, they are still a force to be reckoned with. One of their bites could cleave a human in two with ease." - Dr. Pierre Lagrange, head scientist at the Ambrette Fossil Lab_

 _Tyrantrum are large pokemon which have been extinct for thousands of years. These pokemon have the strongest bite out of every known pokemon, including legendaries. Tyrantrum used to roam ancient jungles of what is now Kalos, but they went extinct after they were unable to adapt to the changing conditions of the world as it slowly recovered from the Great Nuclear Winter. Tyrantrum like to think of themselves as kings, and they are very prideful and arrogant. For this reason, tyrantrum are usually only found in the care of experience and powerful trainers, as a rampaging tyrantrum can cause extreme damage with its powerful jaws. Tyrantrum are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	14. Chapter 14

_Alfgar shifted in his seat uncomfortably. The auditorium was packed, and as a result, he didn't have much room to move around. As he adjusted the cap on his head and straightened his black gown, the girl next to him spoke up._

 _"Would you stop that already? There's only a few more minutes left." Her green eyes flashed in annoyance, and her blonde hair was silky smooth under her cap as it cascaded down her shoulders and spilled over onto her black gown._

 _He glared impatiently at the principal of Nuvema Intermediate School who was currently speaking on the podium of the auditorium. "This is so uncomfortable. I don't know why we need to wear this," he whispered back._

 _"It's tradition. Now stop moving around."_

 _Alfgar sighed and leaned back into his seat. The speech was the same-old clichéd stuff he had heard so many times, so he didn't feel the need to listen intently to the principal. The graduation ceremony would be over soon, and he would finally be a trainer._

 _"And now I would like to welcome to the stage three of our students who have excelled in both academics and pokemon training," the principal said from the podium. "These three students will be receiving a starter pokemon from our very own Professor Juniper as a reward for their achievements. Please give a warm welcome to Hilbert Grey, Hilda Grey, and Ragnar Berlitz!"_

 _The crowd applauded as Alfgar got to his feet. He felt Liviana pat him on the back from the seat next to him, and he walked to the stage as his heart swelled with pride. As he stepped up onto the stage and shook his principal's hand, Alfgar noticed that two more people had joined him on the stage._

 _Both of them were dressed in the same black cap and gown that he had on. One of them was a young man with brown hair and brown eyes, and he nodded at Alfgar when he saw him. The other person on stage was a girl who had the same brown hair as her brother, but her eyes were a dazzling shade of bright blue. She smiled cheerily at Alfgar as she took her place between him and her brother._

 _The three stood together and faced their peers and the crowd, the applause only increasing by the second. Alfgar glanced up into the audience to look for his parents, and he saw his father fumbling with his camera as he stood up in his seat._

 _"Smile, guys!" Alfgar's father shouted, his voice barely audible over the noise._

 _Hilda slung her arms around the two boys' shoulders and brought them closer to her._

 _"Come on, can we at least pretend that we like each other?" She asked teasingly, a sunny grin plastered on her face._

 _Alfgar couldn't help but smile at that, and he looked over at the normally-reserved Hilbert and saw him grinning widely as well. The three looked at the camera, and the flash dazzled them as it went off in the auditorium._

 _When the light faded, Alfgar found himself alone on the stage. Hilbert and Hilda were gone, and instead of clapping and cheering, the audience was yelling insults at him. He glanced back into the crowd but found that his parents had also disappeared. The jeers grew louder, and Alfgar suddenly felt an intense pain in his leg._

 _He looked down and saw Liviana, her hand latched onto a knife that she had plunged into his leg._

 _"You're a failure. You let them die," she hissed, her eyes glowing angrily._

 _Suddenly the scene shifted, and Alfgar found that he was no longer at the auditorium. Instead he saw that he was back in a large, dark, open space that floated above a city. Across from him stood a young man with with long green hair tied messily in a ponytail. A black and white cap covered his hair, and his pale green eyes were full with an indiscernible emotion. In front of the green-haired boy stood a large white dragon. Reshiram._

 _Apollo roared as he spread his wings and bared his teeth, the flame on his tail burning intensely. Only the charizard stood between Alfgar and Reshiram. Randy lay on the ground, his body motionless save for the few ragged breaths he took intermittently. An unfezant was sprawled out next to the kecleon, its body burned and blackened from Reshiram's flames. It did not move. A third pokemon also lay on the ground, a large, blue one with a golden horn atop its head._

 _Apollo roared again before letting a flamethrower loose at N and his Reshiram, but the white dragon responded with a stream of fire of his own. Apollo's attack was easily overcome, and the charizard was bathed in flames. Though the fire was not very effective against him, Apollo still roared in pain as he tried to bat the flames out with his wings._

 _"It is futile," Reshiram began, "you are not strong enough. Though you and your pokemon may have the will to win, the simple truth is that you cannot defeat me. Lying to yourself will not save you."_

 _A resolute roar pierced the air, and Alfgar watched as the downed samurott weakly rose to his four feet. The water type roared again as it fixed its horn at the Reshiram, and it glanced back at Alfgar before charging._

 _Alfgar's heart sank when he looked into the samurott's red eyes. Though he saw determination, power, and strength in those eyes, he also saw hopelessness._

* * *

Alfgar lifted himself up from the soft, luxurious bed and yawned as he stretched. He glanced around the guest room of Cynthia's villa and saw that Evenfall and Randy were still asleep. Luce, however, was wide awake, and the luxray stared at him with his disturbing eyes.

"Do you have to do that every morning?" Alfgar complained as he headed to the bathroom.

After he showered he came out and saw that all three of his pokemon were now awake, so he headed downstairs for breakfast. He poured bowls of cereal for himself and for his pokemon. Evenfall and Randy happily dug into the food, but Luce made a face and then scowled at Alfgar.

 _"You call this a meal?"_

Alfgar shrugged as he carefully poured milk into his cereal. "Go hunt for yourself if you don't like it. There's plenty of wingull outside."

 _"I think I will do just that,"_ Luce replied sourly as he slunk out the door.

"Don't kill anyone!" Alfgar called after him.

"Does he kill people often?"

Alfgar turned around and saw Cynthia walk into the kitchen, her heels clicking against the tile floor.

"Not really, though I have no doubt that he would if I let him do whatever he wanted."

Cynthia eyes flashed in amusement for a second before they became serious again. "We should leave soon. Meet me outside when you finish."

"Wait!" Alfgar called out before she left. "What about Gary? Shouldn't we wake him?"

"No. There's no reason for him to be there, and I have a feeling he would be bored out of his mind." Cynthia then left the villa and went out into the Undella sun.

Alfgar chewed his cereal as he watched her leave. The meeting with the Sinnohan diplomats was today, and he had to admit that Gary probably wouldn't want to be there. He finished his breakfast and returned his pokemon.

As he headed out the door, Alfgar glanced at his outfit. Cynthia had ensured him that he didn't need to buy a suit and that his current attire was fine, but it still felt weird meeting important diplomats while he was dressed so casually.

He found Cynthia waiting outside the villa. "Ready?" She asked.

He nodded and mentally went over the points of discussion as the pair walked along the beach. His job was to convince the diplomats to join the war on Unova's side, and he was supposed to focus on points such as Sinnoh's dependency on Unovan trade goods as well as the vast supply of oil Unova held. Cynthia was there as an advocate for Unova as well, and she would be helping him convince the diplomats. Though she was champion of Sinnoh, she didn't have infinite power and still had to work together with Parliament.

Alfgar was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Luce stroll over to them. The luxray grinned at Alfgar, his teeth stained red. Cynthia continued walking, and the trio strayed from the sidewalk and started walking on the beach. They continued on for a few minutes until they were far away from the town.

"Where are we going?" Alfgar asked.

"Oh, the meeting is being held in a beach cove. Strange, I know, but these Sinnohan diplomats are traditionalists. They would prefer to avoid the luxurious and excessive nature of Undella Town."

She remained silent for a few more moments before speaking again. "Gary Oak told me about your vision of Arceus."

Alfgar blinked in surprise. "He did?"

"Yes. He told me about Rayquaza as well."

"It's true," Alfgar said, anticipating her reaction. "I wouldn't lie about such things."

Cynthia stopped walking and turned to face him. "It's hard to believe, I admit, but you seem to believe it very strongly. Why?"

"I... I don't know... It just felt so real. I wasn't the only one who saw it."

"I know," she replied. "Yet you're the only one still on this quest. Gary also told me how your soldiers left. Either way, you can't be one hundred percent sure that it was Arceus who appeared to you. Why do you still believe in it?"

Alfgar remained silent. He didn't know how to put his emotions into words.

Cynthia stared at him with her powerful platinum eyes. "... It's because of the Unova Incident, isn't it? You want to be able to overcome what happened there by fulfilling your new quest. Or do you simply want to distract yourself? Revenge? Is it revenge you want, by collecting these legendaries? A mix of all three, I would guess."

Alfgar grit his teeth and looked at the sand at his feet. This was none of her business. "Why do you care?"

"I feel sorry for you, for what happened to you. You didn't deserve it. You were a good person, Alfgar, but bad things can happen to anyone." Her eyes shone with sympathy, and her long blonde hair flowed in the sea breeze.

His eyes darkened. "... Can we just get to the meeting?"

Cynthia stepped back a few paces and looked at him sadly. "Oh, Alfgar... There is no meeting. I'm sorry." She pulled out a pokeball and tossed it into the air, and a small stone emerged from it.

Luce immediately leapt in front of his trainer, his teeth bared. He growled at the spiritomb as its wispy form snaked out of the keystone.

"Why are you doing this?" Alfgar asked, his voice tinged with surprise and hurt. And to think he was actually beginning to trust her.

Cynthia didn't reply. Instead, her spiritomb sent out a wispy trail of fire which sped towards Luce.

"Dodge that!"

Luce leapt aside and responded with the thunderbolt which hit the spiritomb.

"Thunder fang!" Alfgar commanded. Luce was better with physical moves, and spiritomb wasn't very quick.

"Sucker punch," Cynthia countered, her voice void of emotion. The spiritomb sent out a tendril of its dark energy and socked Luce as he leapt at the ghost. Luce fell onto the sand and glared at the spiritomb as he got back up, his teeth sparking with electricity.

Alfgar matched his pokemon's glare as he thought about his next move. Luce didn't have any super-effective moves to hit the spiritomb with, so the best he could do was to go for powerful, physical, electric attacks.

Cynthia struck first, however. "Use foul play." The spiritomb's wispy tendrils enveloped Luce in dark energy, and the luxray yelped as his own attack power was used against him.

"Thunderbolt! Keep it away from you!"

Luce snarled as his hair stood on end and he sent a bolt of electricity at the spiritomb. The ghost droned in pain as the electricity coursed through it, but it recovered quickly and fired off another will-o-wisp. Luce barely managed to dodge the fire attack by leaping to the side again.

"Wild charge, Luce," Alfgar ordered, and the luxray enveloped himself in electricity as he charged the spiritomb.

"Sucker punch."

Luce was stopped in his tracks as the spiritomb's tendrils punched him in the stomach. _Damn it,_ Alfgar thought, _I can't keep letting him get sucker punched. I need to predict it next time._

"Thunder fang! Leap at it!"

Luce launched himself off his hind legs as his jaws crackled with electricity. He flew into the air and descended towards the spiritomb, but Alfgar called out again.

"It's going to sucker punch you again! Twist and avoid it."

Sure enough, the spiritomb sent more tendrils out to catch the luxray in mid-air. Fortunately for Alfgar, Luce twisted in the air and changed his path so that the tendrils went wide. The luxray bit down hard on the spiritomb as he fell to the ground, causing the ghost to shriek in pain.

"Dark pulse!" Cynthia yelled, her voice no longer as calm as it was a few seconds ago.

The spiritomb shook off the electricity and blasted Luce with a wave of dark energy, forcing the electric lion back a few paces. As Luce struggled to recover from the point-blank blow, Alfgar heard Cynthia order another foul play attack. He watched helplessly as the luxray took the attack and crumpled to the ground, sending sand flying everywhere.

"Will-o-wisp." Cynthia's voice had regained its confidence as she realized the battle was starting to favor her once more.

"You have to dodge that!" Alfgar yelled urgently, but Luce was still struggling to his feet when the flames overtook him.

Luce yelped again as the fire scorched his fur, and Alfgar knew that he would be much more weaker now. "Thunderbolt!" His only chance was special attacks now.

Luce bristled as he directed electricity towards the spiritomb, but the ghost responded with a dark pulse which knocked the luxray down. The spiritomb took the thunderbolt, though it once again shrugged the attack off.

Alfgar grit his teeth as he recalled his downed luxray. He now only had four pokemon left while the Sinnoh Champion still had six. _I can't win this,_ he grimly thought. Still, he had to try. It would be pointless to give up.

He thought about his options. The spiritomb had not moved the entire battle, and its foul play and will-o-wisp combination would cripple physical attackers. He needed a special attacker who could take advantage of the ghost's sluggishness.

He plucked a ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. Evenfall emerged onto the golden sand and purred in distaste as she eyed her opponents.

"Ice beam," Alfgar ordered. The glaceon fired a focused white beam at the spiritomb, but the ghost managed to strike Evenfall with its tendrils before it was hit by the ice attack.

 _Damn it. I forgot about the sucker punch._ "Evenfall, use barrier!"

Evenfall mewled and twisted her body as her icy coat shimmered. A purple force field erupted around Evenfall, ensuring that any of the spiritomb's physical attacks would be weakened.

Alfgar smirked. The spiritomb didn't have much options left now. Will-o-wisp would be easy for Evenfall to dodge, and the only special attack he had seen the ghost use was dark pulse, which shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Ice beam," he said again. Evenfall launched another beam at the ghost, but to Alfgar's surprise, the glaceon was struck by the tendrils again as she fired off her attack.

 _What the hell?_ He thought to himself as Evenfall crumpled in pain. _That shouldn't have done that much damage._

"Infiltrator," Cynthia called out after noticing Alfgar's confused expression. "Barrier won't work on Ghoulser thanks to his ability."

The spiritomb cackled at the his trainer's words and then sent a will-o-wisp towards Evenfall. As the glaceon dodged the attack, Alfgar tried to come up with a new strategy. _Abilities, huh? If that's how you want to play it..._

"Use hail!" He called out.

Evenfall let out an icy howl as her coat shimmered once more. A large cloud of ice formed above her and eventually overtook the whole battlefield. After a few seconds, hail started to fall from the cloud. Ghoulser cringed in discomfort as he was pelted by hail, but Evenfall seemed to be enjoying herself in the ice storm.

"Ice beam! Make sure to watch out for the sucker punches," Alfgar commanded.

Evenfall fired another ice beam at the ghost and easily dodged the spiritomb's counterattack. The ice type leapt around the sand as she fired off ice beam after ice beam, the attacks strengthened by the hailstorm. The spiritomb struggled as he was pelted by hail and smashed by ice beams, and it only took a minute for Evenfall to finish the ghost type.

Cynthia recalled her spiritomb. "Interesting. You used your glaceon's Snow Cloak ability to increase your evasion. It won't work as well on my next pokemon, though." She tossed out another pokeball and revealed her lucario.

Alfgar recalled Evenfall hastily. The lucario's aura sphere would still hit Evenfall for super-effective damage even with Snow Cloak up. Alfgar threw another pokeball and released Apollo. The fire dragon roared a challenge as the hail cleared up and the ice clouds dissipated.

"Get in the air, Apollo." Even though the lucario's aura sphere wouldn't miss, if Apollo was in the air, the aura sphere would take longer to get to him and allow him more time to dodge.

Apollo roared and flapped his wings as he flew up into the sunny sky of Undella. The lucario calmly glanced upwards as the charizard circled around him.

"Flash cannon," Cynthia ordered.

The lucario shot off a ball of metallic energy at Apollo, and the charizard barely managed to dodge it as it rocketed upwards with surprising speed.

 _Damn. Even from that much of a distance, her attacks still come so close to hitting? No wonder she's a champion._ "Smokescreen!" Alfgar shouted up to Apollo. The black smoke would hide the charizard, making it harder for lucario's attacks to hit.

Apollo blew smoke out of his nostrils and mouth as he hovered around in the air. The black smoke obscured his position, and even Alfgar could no longer see him.

"Aura sphere," Cynthia said, her voice still surprisingly calm.

 _No way that's going to hit. There's too much smoke._ Alfgar watched as the lucario closed his eyes. The four black extensions on the side of the lucario's head floated upwards as the pokemon focused. Soon enough, the lucario rapidly formed a ball of blue energy before he hurled it up into the smoke cloud. Apollo roared as he flapped his way out of the cloud, just barely avoiding the aura sphere.

Alfgar snarled in anger. How could he have been so stupid? Of course the smoke screen wouldn't help. Lucario used aura to sense their opponents, not their sight. Still, the distance was too far. The lucario could not hit Apollo as long as it was grounded, and as far as Alfgar knew, lucario couldn't fly.

Cynthia thought the same thing. "You won't hit if from this far away. We need to get in the air. Use extreme speed and then aura sphere."

Alfgar watched with horror as the lucario ran with amazing speed and then leapt into the sky. At the apex of its jump, the lucario released an aura sphere that collided directly with Apollo. The charizard roared with pain, though the attack didn't do too much damage. Still, the lucario now had a method of hitting Apollo.

"Flamethrower! Stay on the offensive!" Alfgar called out.

Apollo swooped downwards and opened his maw, unleashing a torrent of flames at the lucario. However, the fighting type leapt aside nimbly and slammed its open palm into Apollo's side. It then fired an aura sphere at the retreating charizard, scoring a direct hit.

Alfgar cursed. Apollo was taking too much damage. As he watched the lucario pepper Apollo with aura spheres and flash cannons, he tried to think up a new strategy. _Being in the air is only hurting me at this point. The lucario can dodge airborne attacks and deal out damage at the same time._

"Apollo, roost!"

The charizard roared as it descended onto the soft sand of Undella's beach. When he landed, Apollo folded up his wings and assumed a rest position as he healed himself. _Now we just wait..._

"Aldronn, extreme speed and bone rush," Cynthia commanded as the lucario rushed forward. The jackal pulled out a bone from a small valve on its body and rushed at Apollo with it.

"Overheat!" Alfgar screamed just as Cynthia finished her order.

Cynthia's eyes widened as Apollo's tail flame grew immensely. The charizard roared loudly as a huge wave of heat erupted from its body and swallowed the battlefield. Though the attack was aimed in Aldronn's direction, Alfgar still felt the intense heat as he covered his face with his arm.

When the heat finally cleaned and made it bearable to face the battlefield again, Alfgar saw Cynthia emerge from her prone position in the sand, golden grains strung up in her blonde hair. He also saw that Apollo was panting heavily, his long, draconic tongue sticking out from between his jaws. The lucario was faced down on the sand, his body scorched in several places. However, to Alfgar's surprise and dismay, Aldronn weakly pushed himself to his feet. _W-what? How?_

Cynthia smiled. "It's weak now, Aldronn. Finish it."

As the lucario rushed Apollo, Alfgar gathered his wits and barked out an order. "Earthquake!"

The sand began to shift and rumble as Apollo roared defiantly. Aldronn stopped in his tracks and fell to his knees, the earthquake attack forcing him to the ground.

When the shaking finally stopped, Alfgar slowly got back up from where he had fallen and observed the battlefield. Apollo looked ready to collapse, but the lucario was definitely finished. Cynthia stood up as well as she frowned and recalled her pokemon.

"Apollo may have been weak," Alfgar started as he smirked, "but he wasn't completely incapable of attacking. Overheat only dropped his special attack, not his physical attack."

"... You are very good trainer, Alfgar. I wish I could have tested your strength on better terms." She chucked a pokeball into the air and released a togekiss.

Alfgar returned Apollo and sent Evenfall back out. _An ice type should be able to deal with this thing._

"Ice beam," he called out.

"Dodge it and then air slash!"

The togekiss swerved away from the white beam and swung its wings in a wide arc, releasing a compact blade of air which sped towards the glaceon.

 _That shouldn't be too damaging..._ "Ice beam again!"

However, as the air slash hit Evenfall, the glaceon flinched as she reeled from the attack. The ice type's blood stained the sand.

"Thunder wave!" Cynthia called out.

Alfgar balled his fists in anger as the electric wave stunned Evenfall. He hated this tactic. "Ice beam!" He yelled desperately.

"Air slash and then aura sphere," Cynthia countered.

The blade of air flew into Evenfall again, and before she could recover from the flinching and the paralysis, a compact ball of energy struck her. _I didn't know this thing had a fighting-type attack,_ Alfgar thought grimly.

Before Evenfall could even get up, another aura sphere struck her, and then another. The third one made a sickening crack as it slammed into the downed glaceon, and Alfgar fumbled for his pokeball as he recalled her.

"You really should have recalled her earlier," Cynthia said, her expression neutral. "In fact, you shouldn't have sent her out against my togekiss in the first place. You need to be able to predict your opponent's moves."

"Shut up," he growled as he sent Apollo back out. The charizard was still tired, but Alfgar was running out of pokemon. Besides, he had a plan.

"Get in the air," he commanded. Apollo joined the togekiss in the sky as the two circled around each other.

"Thunder wave," Cynthia ordered, but Apollo easily avoided the attack and countered with a flamethrower.

"Dragon dance!" Alfgar yelled. Apollo began spinning in the air, his wings held close to his body. The strange ritual would power him up greatly.

"Air slash!"

"Dragon dance! Spin faster!"

The blade of air bounced harmlessly off the charizard as he spun rapidly in the air. When he finally emerged from his compact spinning position, Apollo roared viciously in the togekiss' direction.

"Watch out, Serena! It's going to try and rush you now!" Cynthia cautioned to her pokemon, obviously aware of dragon dance's effects.

Alfgar smirked. "Smokescreen!"

Apollo shrouded himself and his opponent in thick, black smoke. The togekiss, expecting a physical attack, had no time to react to the smokescreen and was caught up in it.

"Now dynamic punch!" Alfgar screamed.

Apollo rushed through the black smoke and slammed his dragon dance-boosted fist into the immobile togekiss. The togekiss shrieked in agony as it fell from the sky and collapsed onto the sand with a thud. Cynthia held out a pokeball and sucked the togekiss back into its ball.

"That was impressive," she admitted. "You threw me off with that smokescreen, as I thought you'd go right in for a physical attack. I have enjoyed watching you and your pokemon, Alfgar. Unfortunately, I must end this now." She threw a pokeball into the air and sent out her garchomp.

Alfgar's throat tightened as the dragon roared fearsomely. Charlotte, Cynthia's garchomp, was her strongest pokemon by far. He had been dreading this fight ever since the battle started.

"Apollo, dragon pulse!" He called out nervously.

Apollo rushed down to meet the Charlotte, but the dragon pokemon slammed Apollo as he approached, her body coated with blue energy. Apollo lost his balance and slammed face first into the ground, sending sand flying everywhere.

Alfgar recalled him and felt a cold sweat break out on his body. _It's so fast and powerful!_ He sucked in a breath and sent out Randy to face Charlotte. The kecleon squawked in alarm at seeing the dragon.

Cynthia struck first. "Dragon rush!"

Her body glowing with draconic energy, Charlotte sped towards Randy and sent him flying into the sand. As the kecleon got back up, Alfgar saw that Randy's skin was tinted a deep blue color. _No! He's a dragon type now!_ The next dragon move Cynthia used would do extra damage thanks to Randy's ability.

Cynthia smirked as she noticed this. "Dragon pulse."

Charlotte opened her mouth and sent a beam of blue energy towards the kecleon, who took the attack head on. Randy squawked in pain as he was sent right back into the sand.

Alfgar suddenly had an idea. "Use camouflage!"

Randy squawked in approval as his skin changed back to its regular, pale-green color, indicating that he was a normal type again. However, before Alfgar could order a counterattack, Charlotte slammed into Randy with another dragon rush.

 _It's just too fast!_ Randy would be a dragon type again, and he would definitely be destroyed by Cynthia's next move. _Wait... That doesn't have to be a disadvantage._

"Use mimic!" Alfgar called out.

Randy's stripe on his body glowed for a bit before he released a burst of draconic energy from his mouth, striking the surprised Charlotte as she started to charge again. The garchomp roared angrily as she was hit by the super-effective attack, the damage compounded by Randy's new dragon type.

Unfortunately, Alfgar now had to wait for the garchomp to attack before he could mimic again. He just hoped Randy would be able to dodge the attack.

"Dragon rush," Cynthia ordered.

Charlotte rushed towards the kecleon again, but this time Randy jumped over the charging dragon. However, as Randy was in mid-air, Charlotte spun around and swung her claws at the kecleon. Randy shrieked as the garchomp's claws sliced into his legs. The kecleon fell onto the sand, his legs now separated from his body. Randy moaned weakly as the golden grains around him turned red.

Alfgar stared in horror before he returned the kecleon and sent out his last pokemon. "Kill them!" He yelled, fury lacing his voice.

Odin appeared after a bright flash of light and roared deeply as he glared at the garchomp. Charlotte roared back, but her cry sounded pitiful when compared to the tyrantrum's. Odin charged Charlotte, his jaws wide open.

"Earthquake!" Cynthia hurriedly called out. If those jaws closed around Charlotte, the garchomp was as good as dead.

Charlotte roared as she shook the sand and caused Odin to lose his footing. As the fossil dragon stumbled, Charlotte rushed towards him. When the garchomp approached Odin, the tyrantrum swung his head downwards in a massive head smash attack, battering Charlotte down I to the sand.

"Dig!" Cynthia was beginning to get worried. She had to get the battle back under control.

Charlotte disappeared under the sand, causing Odin to look around in confusion. He roared in frustration.

"It's going to come up behind you!" Alfgar warned as he tried to regain his composure.

Unfortunately for him, the garchomp reappeared right in front of Odin and blew him back a few yards. As the tyrantrum flew past him, Alfgar felt the tip of the fossil dragon's tail smack him in the head. He collapsed into the sand and struggled to recover as his vision swam.

The last thing he remembered was a loud buzzing noise and the sight of shining, red armor before he blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N:** _There was supposed to be another one of those 'dex entry' things here, but I guess it got deleted somehow... Sorry about that._


	15. Chapter 15

Alfgar awoke and found himself in a sterile, white room. His head pounded as he looked around and tried to sit up from the bed he was lying in. As he pushed himself to a sitting position, he guessed that he was in the hospital. He struggled to recall what had happened after Odin's tail had knocked him out. _I saw something arrive... What happened to Cynthia? How am I still alive?_

After a few seconds the door to his room opened and Gary walked in. Gary pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alfgar's bed.

"How're you feeling?" He asked.

"Alright," Alfgar replied. "Though my head hurts." He reached up and saw that the hospital had bandaged his wound.

"Yeah, you took a pretty hard hit. You were out for an entire day," Gary said as he smiled, but Alfgar could tell that it was forced.

Suddenly he remembered his pokemon. "Where are my pokemon? What happened to them?"

Gary averted his gaze, suddenly finding the blank white wall of the room very interesting. "Your charizard, tyrantrum, and luxray are fine. I can get the nurse to return them to you now, if you want."

Alfgar's brown eyes hardened. "And my other pokemon?" His stomach churned as he knew what was coming.

Gary grimaced. "Your glaceon's dead, and your kecleon had his legs cut off from above the knees."

Alfgar cringed internally as he remembered the sickening crunch of the aura spheres slamming into Evenfall's body. He balled his fists as he saw Charlotte slice at Randy, his mind replaying the horrifying events of his battle with Cynthia.

"... What happened to Cynthia?" He finally asked.

"She escaped shortly after I arrived. She knew she couldn't beat me. Don't worry, though, I'm sure we'll find that bitch soon enough."

Alfgar grit his teeth and almost bit his tongue. Cynthia would pay for this, he had no doubt of that.

"I'll get the rest of your pokemon for you," Gary said awkwardly as he got up and left the room. He didn't quite know how to deal with these types of situations.

Alfgar snapped himself out of his murderous thoughts as he got up and picked up his clothes which were lying on a nearby chair. Gary walked back into the room with a small plastic bag as Alfgar finished putting his clothes back on.

"Uh... Are you sure you should be out of bed?" Gary asked as he handed Alfgar his pokemon back.

The black-haired trainer took the bag and clipped the three pokeballs back to his belt. "I'm fine. Where are Randy and Evenfall?"

Gary sighed. "The nurse at the Pokemon Center has them but - hey!"

Alfgar pushed past Gary and walked out of the hospital. The warm Undella breeze attempted to soothe his feelings as he stormed over to the Pokemon Center next door. He entered the center and asked for his two pokemon back.

The nurse expressed her condolences as she handed over the two pokeballs, and Alfgar gave a curt thanks before he left the center and headed towards the beach. When he made it to a relatively isolated spot in the sand, he released Randy.

The kecleon sat on the sand and squawked with surprise when he saw Alfgar. Alfgar knelt down to Randy's level and examined him. The kecleon looked fine save for his legs, which now solely consisted of two short stumps. _He won't be able to battle in this condition._

"How are you feeling?" He asked Randy tentatively.

 _"I'm alright! But my legs... Can they fix my legs, Master?"_

Alfgar's face fell and his eyes darkened. "I don't know. They could give you prosthetics, but it won't be the real thing. I'm afraid you're done with battling."

Randy squawked sadly as he looked down at the golden sand. _"... That's what I thought. What will happen now?"_

"I don't know" Alfgar sat down on the sand across from Randy. "Evenfall's dead. We were too weak, and we paid the price for it. Some of us more than others." He glanced at the kecleon's stumps sadly.

"I'm going to get revenge," he continued, "and I haven't given up on our original mission. We do need to get stronger, though, and you can't battle. I can't bring you along."

Randy squawked in alarm. _"Wha-what will I do then?"_

"I'm going to Kanto next. You remember Professor Oak, right? You can stay with him. I'll pick you up when this is all over." He hated to leave Randy behind, but he had no choice.

Though Randy had been on his team the longest out of any of his pokemon, the kecleon could no longer battle. If he brought Randy along, Alfgar would only endanger him and the rest of the team. He explained all this to Randy, and the kecleon hung his head in sadness.

 _"Alright. I will stay with Professor Oak. You will come back for me, you promise?"_

Alfgar nodded. "I promise." He then patted the kecleon on the head before recalling him. He sent out his other three living pokemon.

Apollo, Luce, and Odin all emerged out of their balls and onto the sand of the Undella beach. Apollo and Odin were surprisingly quiet as they eyed their trainer, and for once Luce didn't have anything sarcastic or bitter to say.

"Evenfall is dead. Randy will never battle again," Alfgar began. "All this because we couldn't defeat Cynthia. We were too weak."

His pokemon remained silent as they stared at their trainer.

"We're going to gather the legendaries, and we will have our revenge. I know I've neglected to train you guys like we did when we traveled around on our own. That's going to change. From now on, we won't be playing around. We either destroy or we be destroyed, and I think you all know what path we will choose."

He paused and took a deep breath. "We're going to Kanto next to meet up with someone. I'm sure you'll all remember him when you see him. After that, we should be able to complete our goal more easily."

Alfgar stopped when he heard someone approaching. He turned around and saw Gary jogging over with his umbreon by his side. "There you are! You can't just run off like that!"

"Sorry. I don't like hospitals."

Gary glared at him. "So? You didn't even bother to check out!" His expression softened. "What are you going to do now?"

"I was hoping to go to Kanto," Alfgar replied.

"Kanto? What could you possibly want from there?"

"I need to meet with someone," he said simply.

Gary's blue eyes narrowed. "Meet with who?"

"What will you do now?" Alfgar asked Gary in order to change the subject.

"Uh... I don't know. I guess I can go back to Kanto with you for a bit. I'll figure it out from there."

Alfgar nodded. "Alright, then. We should leave as soon as possible. We just have one more thing to do here..."

* * *

The sun sank below the horizon as the light from the flames bathed the group of people and pokemon on the beach. The group gazed at the burning pyre, and Gary's umbreon mewled sadly as she watched her sister's corpse burn.

Alfgar stared solemnly at the pyre. _I'm sorry, Evenfall._ Cynthia was right; it was his fault that the glaceon died. His carelessness cost Evenfall her life. _It won't happen again._

The dark-haired trainer shifted his pack and felt the heat from the Red Orb emanate from inside it.

 _This Orb will be the first step to revenge. To redemption._

* * *

Alfgar yawned as he stepped out of the sleek, black sportscar. He blinked before taking in his surroundings. He was in Pallet Town now, home to Champion Red and the famous Professor Oak. Pallet was quaint and quiet, and only a single paved road ran through the center of the town.

He glanced at the large building atop the hill. Windmills lined the pathway up to Oak's lab, and the long flight of stairs that ran up the hill seemed to have been freshly repainted.

Gary shut the engine off before stepping out of the driver's seat of his car. He stretched and let out Penelope, his umbreon. The black eeveelution mewled in delight at seeing Professor Oak's lab.

"There it is," Gary declared. "I think it's about time we paid Gramps a visit."

Alfgar, Gary, and Penelope walked up the hill as they made their way to Professor Oak's lab. When they opened the door and strode into the main lobby of the lab, they were surprised to hear Professor Oak's voice talking to someone.

"Huh?" Gary said as he scratched his head. "Gramps said he'd meet us here. He said he cleared his schedule for today."

"Sounds like he's back there," Alfgar observed as he glanced down the hallway which lead to the Professor's office. "We'll wait for him here."

"Hell no," Gary scoffed. "I'm going in."

Alfgar sighed before he followed Gary and his umbreon down the hallway. The trio entered a medium-sized room littered with papers and test tubes. A large, outdated computer sat on a desk towards the end of the room, and Professor Oak stood beside it as he spoke to someone. The other man had on a red jacket, blue jeans, and a red hat atop messy, black hair. The man turned around and looked at Alfgar and Gary with a pair of striking red eyes.

"Oh! I completely forgot you two were coming," Professor Oak said as he walked over to Alfgar and Gary. "I'm sure you both remember Red?"

"Yeah. Red, good to see you," Gary greeted unenthusiastically.

"Nice to see you again," Alfgar said as he waved.

Red nodded to the two trainers. "Alfgar. Gary."

Professor Oak cleared his throat before he spoke, interrupting the tense silence. "Red here was telling me about the war between Unova and Hoenn. He's going to make sure that Kanto and Johto stay out of it, which I completely agree with. However, because he was attacked at a conference in Lilycove, a lot of the warhawks in Parliament are pushing him to enter the war as revenge."

"I thought you said you cleared your schedule, Gramps," Gary said gruffly.

Oak rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Er... I know I said that, but it's not everyday that the Champion shows up at your lab!" He clapped Red on the back, and the red-eyed champion jumped in surprise.

Alfgar turned his attention to Red. "You were at that meeting?" He had seen the news reports on it, but they didn't mention that the Indigo Champion was there.

"Yeah. It was supposed to be a meeting to keep the peace, but it ended up starting the war. Funny how things work out." His voice was quiet but strong, exactly how Alfgar had remembered it.

"And now Sinnoh has joined... A shame," Professor Oak said, his eyes clouded with worry. "Hopefully we can stay out of it from now on. Alfgar, you said you had a pokemon for me?"

Alfgar unclipped Randy's ball before handing it to Oak. "We've already said our goodbyes."

Professor Oak nodded as he took the ball. "He will be well-cared for here. Prosthetics have advanced greatly in the last few years."

"Thank you. I should be leaving now." Alfgar turned to leave, but Professor Oak called out to him.

"Wait! What do you plan on doing now?"

"... I need to meet with someone." Alfgar's gaze remained fixed on the door.

"With who? Surely you don't mean... Alfgar, you shouldn't."

"I have no choice, Professor. I need to do this." He walked out the door and left the laboratory.

Oak sighed. "He doesn't know what he's getting into..."

"I think he can handle himself," Red replied. "I don't think he ever truly agreed with them anyway."

"Yes, but they've changed... They're far more powerful now. I just hope... Never mind. He's had a difficult time as a trainer, hasn't he?" Oak pinched the bridge of his nose as he turned to Gary.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my grandson again?" He asked with a hint of bitterness. "You're not one to visit just to check up on me."

Gray shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still figuring out what to do next."

"I've been telling you for years that I need you to take over the lab after I die. You showed promise as a researcher, you could go back to that?" Oak offered, though he knew it was futile.

Gary groaned. "Research is boring. I want to something that's exciting and useful."

"And research isn't useful?" Red broke in.

Gray glared at him. "You know what isn't useful? When the champion sits on top of a mountain for a couple years, doing absolutely nothing."

Red's crimson eyes hardened. "It's better than just running away from my problems, isn't it? At least I know I have responsibilities."

Professor Oak stepped in before Gary could form a retort. "Look at you two. Is this how friends treat one another? Just because you haven't seen each other in a while doesn't mean you need to fight."

Gary rolled his eyes. "I'm going for a walk." He left Oak's lab as well, his umbreon following closely behind.

Professor Oak sighed. "I'm sorry about Gary. Ever since the battle... He just hasn't been the same."

Red's gaze softened. "I know what it feels like, but now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves. If war does come to us, we need to be prepared. Things could get out of hand quickly, and we're going to need Gary's help if it comes to that."

Professor Oak rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "Let's hope it doesn't."

* * *

Alfgar entered the large lobby of the Viridian Gym. The floors and walls of the lobby were made of black stone, and the sole light source was an ornate chandelier which hung from the ceiling. The gym was completely empty, and no trainers or pokemon practiced on the dirt battlefields located towards the back of the gym.

A lone receptionist sat at the welcome desk. She had long, blonde hair tied in a ponytail and bright blue eyes. She gasped and looked up from her magazine as Alfgar approached.

"Y-you can't be in here! The gym is closed, can't you read?"

"I saw the sign. I need to talk to Giovanni." Alfgar stared into the woman's blue orbs with his own dark ones. The receptionist flinched under his gaze.

"He m-made it clear that h-he didn't want any visitors," she stuttered out.

"I'm an old friend," Alfgar insisted. "I'm sure he'll make an exception for me." He began walking away from the welcome desk and towards the back of the gym where the door to Giovanni's office was. He ignored the receptionist as she feebly cried for him to stop.

He got to the black door at the end of the gym and hesitated before knocking.

"... Come in," a deep, silky voice spoke from behind the door.

Alfgar pushed the door open and found himself in a dark but spacious room. The walls and floor of the room were also made of black stone, and the office was lit by a bright lamp that sat on the mahogany desk next to a computer.

A man dressed in an expensive, crisp, black suit sat at the desk, his smooth face illuminated by the light of the lamp. His cold brown eyes held no warmth even as the light fell upon them, and he blinked in surprise as he saw Alfgar. His black hair was nearly slicked back, and smoke trailed out of the cigar he held in his hand. A persian sat curled up under the man's desk, and the cat pokemon mewled in amusement as it noticed the visitor.

"Well... I didn't expect you here," Giovanni said bluntly. He put out his cigarette as he gestured to the seat across from his desk. "Please, have a seat."

Alfgar sat down and cautiously eyed the persian. Its eyes glinted in the darkness threateningly.

"Not happy to see me?" Alfgar questioned.

"To be honest, I thought you were dead. After I heard your mission failed and you crashed in the Hoennese jungle, I just assumed that you had died."

Alfgar blinked in surprise. "How did you know about Operation Iridescent? That was classified information."

Giovanni smirked. "I have my ways. Anyway, I'm sure you've intruded on my rest for a good reason. Spit it out."

Alfgar shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he prepared himself for what he was about to say. "I'd like to rejoin Team Rocket."

Giovanni laughed, and his persian purred. "Is that so? The military man has decided to come back to us. Tell me, why should I even take you back? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now."

"I may have left Team Rocket before, but I never gave away any trade secrets. You know I'm useful, and you know I'm one of the best admins you ever had. There's three good reasons."

"You flatter yourself too much." Giovanni slowly tapped his fingers on the mahogany desk. "You are powerful, I admit, and useful as well, but those reasons aren't good enough. Why do you suddenly want to join Team Rocket again?"

"We have common goals," Alfgar lied. He was only planning on using Team Rocket for power while he collected the legendaries. He would abandon them the first chance he got.

"Really? And what are these 'goals'?"

"You want the legendaries, I want power and revenge. You know why I joined in the first place."

Giovanni leaned back in his plush, black chair. "Yes. I suppose so. But why did you leave if we are so essential to completing your goals?"

"Team Rocket was much weaker back then. Now that you've started collecting the legendaries, I know you have the power to help."

Giovanni leaned forward and gripped the desk. "How do you know about the legendaries?"

Alfgar decided that it was best if he didn't tell Giovanni about his own personal search for the legendaries. "Unovan intelligence. They know you're working with the Hoennese government to collect the legendaries."

Giovanni relaxed his grip and chuckled. "Is that what you think? That we're working with Hoenn? You're mistaken there, I'm afraid. We're collecting them for _ourselves_ , Alfgar." He leaned back in his chair again. "Team Rocket's final plan is unfolding. We will control the legendaries, and then the whole world."

Alfgar was shocked by this revelation. _Huh. Seems like they have gotten a lot stronger._ "Even more the reason for me to rejoin. I can help you."

"... I suppose you can. You were very useful in the past, and I'm sure you can be useful again."

Alfgar let out a mental sigh of relief. "I know I can... One slight problem, though. I lost some of my pokemon, and I only have three left. I need one of Team Rocket's."

Giovanni glared at him darkly. "So you're only at half strength, is that what you're saying?"

"Not necessarily," Alfgar said as he tried to backpedal. He couldn't risk Giovanni declining his offer. "The three pokemon that I have right now are extremely powerful. I just need to borrow a couple of Team Rocket's pokemon to augment my strength."

Giovanni remained silent for a few seconds. "... Alright, I can lend you a few pokemon if you are willing to help us. I hope you know that the pokemon I can give you will not be as powerful as the ones you already have, though."

Alfgar nodded. "I know. There is one pokemon I'd like to request, though... Do you still have Atlas?"

"You want him? I suppose that would make sense, since you two did work together for a while. Here." Giovanni reached into his suit and pulled out a pokeball and rolled it across the desk.

Alfgar caught grabbed the ball off the desk and looked up in surprise. "Wait, _you_ had him?"

"Yes. When you left and he stayed, I noticed that Atlas was much more powerful than he was before you started training him, so I thought I'd keep him for a while. He's like his father in many regards."

Alfgar stared at the worn-out pokeball he held in his hand. Atlas was a nidoking, and Giovanni had given him to Alfgar when he had first joined Team Rocket. Alfgar trained Atlas up from a nidoran to a nidoking, and the two had grown close over time, but when Alfgar decided to leave Team Rocket, Atlas chose to stay. Atlas' father was Giovanni's own nidoking.

He clipped the pokeball to his belt and got up from the chair. "Alright, then. What do you want me to do? I've had experience in the Hoenn region, and I know a lot about the militaries of Hoenn and Unova, so I think I'd be perfect for collecting the Hoenn legendaries."

Giovanni smiled darkly. "Always so blunt. I suppose we do need a new admin in Hoenn, as Marco died while attempting to capture Rayquaza, but... You'll need to prove your loyalty first before I give you the assignment you want. I want you to go to Alto Mare and help Admin Hera finish her assignment first. Then we'll see about sending you to Hoenn."

Alfgar grit his teeth. He needed to be back in Hoenn as soon as possible. "And just what is this assignment?"

"I sent Admin Hera and Admin Archer to Alto Mare in order to harness the power of the legendary pokemon Latios and Latias. Admin Archer was apparently killed, and I promised Hera that I would send reinforcements. You are those reinforcements."

 _Latios and Latias? Sounds difficult._ He had no choice but to accept. He needed Team Rocket's resources and power to complete his own goals. "Fine. I'll go."

Giovanni smirked. "I will inform Admin Hera of your arrival. You can procure your own means of transport, I hope?"

He nodded. Alto Mare was an island located to the south of Johto, and he could easily catch a ferry in Olivine City.

"Then you should get going," Giovanni said. "Also, you'll be needing a uniform. When you walk out of my office, you should see a room to your right. Pick one out from there."

Alfgar left the office and went into the room which held the uniforms. As he browsed through the black, red, and silver clothing looking for a size that fit him, he sighed.

He was a Rocket again.

* * *

 _Dex entry #034: nidoking_

 _"It happens all the time during battle. It's not my nidoking's fault that my opponent was weak." - Excerpt from Viridian Gym Leader Giovanni Guttoso's interview after his nidoking had all killed three of his challenger's pokemon_

 _Nidoking are large, muscular pokemon found in forests and mountains across the world. These pokemon are quick to anger and can be very fierce in battle, especially during mating season. Nidoking are able to produce a potent venom from their horn and jaws, and this poison can kill humans and other pokemon if left untreated. Nidoking are also capable of producing large earthquakes, and they are considered to be very dangerous because of their abilities and their temperament. Though nidoran are common pokemon, it is rare to see a nidoking in the wild because only the strongest are capable of evolution. Nidoking are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale._


	16. Chapter 16

Edwin ran his fingers over the surface of the pokeball, unsure whether to release the being inside. Poseidon sat next to Edwin in the Pokemon Center room, ready to subdue the pokemon if Edwin did decide to release it. The ball contained a gardevoir, Faustina's last pokemon.

He had almost forgotten about Faustina's pokemon when he went to heal his own the day he arrived in Fortree, but he eventually remembered that he had them in his bag and handed the balls over to the nurse. Both he and the staff were shocked to learn that five of the pokemon were dead.

The gardevoir was the only pokemon that hung on to life, and the nurse informed him that the psychic type would need a few days to recover, but now that time had passed and Edwin held the gardevoir's ball in his hands. He sighed nervously as he rubbed the ball once more. How would the gardevoir react to learn that her trainer is dead? Did she already know?

Out of all of Faustina's pokemon, Edwin knew this gardevoir the least. Whenever Faustina released the gardevoir, the two would always speak either in private or through the telepathy, and Edwin had never once talked with the psychic type. He didn't even recall her name.

He clenched the ball resolutely in his hands. "I need to send her out. She needs to know what happened." He looked at Poseidon. "Are you ready, buddy?"

Poseidon croaked an affirmative and nodded his head.

Edwin took a breath and tossed the ball into the air. A tall, slim, graceful figure emerged from the sparkling white light. The gardevoir regarded Edwin with her red eyes, and the young trainer felt a stab of pain in his head when he locked eyes with the psychic. The gardevoir then teleported away before Edwin even had the chance to blink.

"Wait!" He yelled out, but it was too late. She was gone.

Poseidon sat up and croaked in alarm. Edwin cursed.

"What just happened? She didn't even say anything!" He cried out in frustration. Edwin huffed angrily; he had just lost his last link to Faustina.

Poseidon croaked and shook his head. He pointed to the television that was on in the background, and Edwin turned to look at the screen. He saw that Hoennese and Unovan forces had finally met each other in battle, albeit a small one. The news report said that a small band of Unovan soldiers had attacked a group of Hoennese guards stationed at the dilapidated Weather Institute near Fortree.

 _This is just the beginning_ , Edwin thought glumly. Poseidon croaked again and stared at Edwin seriously. Though the young trainer didn't perfectly understand his pokemon, he did grasp the general meaning of the swampert's words: we need to stick together and watch out for ourselves.

It was no use worrying about the gardevoir or trying to fulfill Faustina's dying wish if he himself perished in the process. Now that things were heating up, it was very possible that he could find himself in danger. The government had put out a warning to all trainers telling them that Unovan soldiers could see them as threats and decide to eliminate them. Edwin knew that he needed to watch out for himself before he tried to help others.

 _What do I do now, though?_ He couldn't continue challenging the gyms, as they would all be closed now. He supposed he could continue traveling, but that would be both pointless and dangerous. Poseidon wanted them to go back to Mossdeep and stay with his parents, but Edwin didn't want to be cowering at home when others were out dying and protecting Hoenn.

He considered joining the Trainer Corps, a group consisting of trainers who decided to join the war effort. He would be trained by the army for two weeks and then be sent out into the field, and he would have a chance to fight for his country. However, his parents thought it would be too dangerous and he wasn't very good at following orders anyway. The strict, regimented life of the military just wasn't for him.

As he sat there pondering his options, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that he received a text from his father.

 _"Go talk to Winona. She has something for you to do, if you're up to it."_

Edwin shoved his phone back into his pocket and shot to his feet. It seemed like his father understood his dilemma and had found a new job for him. The two were alike, Edwin and Leonard Willow; both were men of action, and both hated standing on the sidelines.

Edwin told Poseidon about the text and then headed off to Fortree's gym to meet with Winona. When he got there, he found that it was packed with

* * *

 **A/N:** _... And that's it, I suppose. Sorry to end on such an abrupt note, but I guess that's as far as I got with this chapter. Anyway, if you managed to make it to this point, I am assuming that means you at least somewhat liked the story. I will most likely not be continuing this story, but I will be writing another Pokemon fic later on, and this one will (hopefully) be a lot better than_ Boiling Point _. Either way, thanks for reading and congratulations on making it to the 'end' of this story._


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